


Ruby Rose: The Red Huntress

by Zeroan



Series: RWBY Superhero Universe [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 20:02:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 40,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11630877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeroan/pseuds/Zeroan
Summary: Fifteen-year old Ruby Rose was just like any other girl her age, until she discovered she had superpowers and became part of a bigger universe! What challenges lie ahead of her? What more will she discover about the world she thought she knew so well?





	1. It starts with a Rose

The house was unusually quiet that morning, aside from the occasional car speeding by and the birds chirping outside. It shouldn't come as a surprise to her, Summer knew, but it was pleasant anyways. Yet she had a feeling that quiet wouldn't last very long.

Sitting on the kitchen while sipping on her coffee, Summer looked up at the ceiling, paying attention to the muffled steps coming from upstairs. It was laughably predictable, but more than that, it was adorable, which was why she was choosing to let the charade go on until the end.

When she was finished, Summer stood up and put on her jacket, then went to the front door. She paused and fiddled with her belt, as if to check if she hadn't forgotten her gun, but what she really was doing was listening to the sudden stomping coming from the stairs.

Even she wasn't fast enough to stop the incoming tackle, and she almost went down along with the girl hugging her around the waist. Summer held on to the wall and pulled herself back up, laughing, then pushed her daughter off of her.

"Ruby!" She exclaimed, feigning surprise. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at school!"

Ruby looked at her feet guiltily, but Summer still saw the tip her lips curving up into a smile. "I wanted to see you to go, so I hid under the bed so dad would think I had left already."

"Oh, you little imp," Summer shook her head in amusement. "Your father's going to be so mad."

"Not you?" Ruby looked up at her hopefully.

"Nope. I'm proud. You're going places, kid."

Ruby smiled a bit wider, but her eyes went somewhere else, and that didn't escape her mother's notice. Summer kept a straight face, even as a wave of guilt struck her.

This was the hard part, always. Leaving her children and husband behind, not knowing when she'd come back. _If_ she'd come back. Taiyang always understood. He was a rock, her rock, and Yang had taken after him. But just the thought of saying goodbye to Ruby made her heart hurt.

"Hey, Little Rose," Summer crouched down in front of her, holding her chin and bringing her gaze back to her. "Don't be upset. I'll be back so fast you won't even notice I left."

"You always say that," Ruby pouted. "But sometimes you're gone for months."

"Ruby… You know I don't take those kind of jobs anymore," Summer sighed. "Listen. My client's from Vale this time. It's just a few hours by plane to get there and back, and she only paid for one week of protecting. You can hold down the fort for that little time, right?"

Ruby was silent for a few seconds, then she crossed her arms and raised her chin. "Alright. But only if you promise to bake cookies when you come back."

"Ruby, please," Summer winked knowingly. "They're already waiting for you in the kitchen."

Ruby's eyes widened, and she ran to the kitchen in record time, almost tripping over herself in the process. Summer stood up, smiling at the sight of the girl putting three cookies in her mouth at once.

Today, Ruby was almost at her elbows.

Summer wondered if she'd be any taller when she came back.

* * *

**RUBY ROSE**

**THE RED HUNTRESS**

* * *

Ruby's head bobbed along to the music blasting on her headphones, the tip of her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth as she stared down at her notebook. She knew there was something wrong with her sketch, she just knew, but at the same time, it was so close to being right…

She spun her pencil in her fingers and quickly erased the lower end of the scythe. It looked way too big to be properly held by anyone, let alone her, with her tiny hands. But if she made it too thin, wouldn't it run the risk of snapping when she swung it?

Problems, problems. Maybe when she actually built it, it would turn out okay. It would be easier to sort out the flaws then, if there were any. It was the scientific process, or whatever her professors like to call it.

Speaking of professors… She looked up carefully to scan the classroom, and her face went pale. Everyone else was absorbed in their work – _actual_ school work, that is – and the teacher was going from desk to desk to help and make sure they weren't just pretending. Worst of all, there were only a couple more desks before he reached hers.

"Oh gosh," Ruby muttered under her breath, reaching for her headphones. In her panic, she moved way too fast, and the headphone's cable popped from her phone's jack. Suddenly, the classroom was filled loud, aggressive rock music.

Ruby squealed and slammed her hand down on her phone, stopping the music. It was way too late, though. Everyone was laughing, except for the professor, who was glaring daggers at her.

"Miss Rose," he said, approaching her desk. "Care to explain yourself?"

"That was… uh… my alarm," Ruby gulped. "I forgot to turn it off, I think. S-sorry."

"Ah, yes, the infamous…" he looked at the watch on his wrist. "09:37 AM alarm." He shook his head. "You are at least doing your work, right?"

Before Ruby could say anything, he snatched her notebook from her lap and took a long look at the page it was opened at. With every second that passed, his eyebrows rose more and more, to the point that Ruby feared they would fly off his forehead and stick to the ceiling.

Finally, he tore his eyes away from the page. "Is this physics homework?"

"…Yes?" Ruby answered hesitantly. "It uses, you know, calculations of mass and force and all that stuff."

"It _looks_ like a scythe to me." The professor pointed out, inciting more giggles from her colleagues.

"Well, yeah. It is a scythe," Ruby frowned. "But it's also a-"

He raised a hand, stopping her in her tracks. "Never mind. I don't wanna hear. Focus on _history class_ , Miss Rose. You can finish your project at home," he turned to the rest of the class. "What are all of you staring at? Get back to work."

As everyone returned to their tasks, the professor sent her one last look. She couldn't tell if he was concerned, angry, or just utterly confused. Whatever the case, she couldn't be more embarrassed.

* * *

The last periods of class felt like centuries to Ruby. She didn't dare drawing again after getting caught once. The next teacher might not be as kind and send her to the headmaster, or worse… her father.

When the bell finally rang, Ruby was the first out the door. Good for her, as the hallways of Signal High were always crowded at the end of class, and waddling along with the masses was dreadfully dull, especially for someone as hyper as her.

She raced down the stairs that lead out of the school, keeping ahead of the crowd behind her. Deciding to have a little fun, she jumped and slid down the rails of the stairs, sticking her arms to her sides to keep her balance. People were always yelling at her to not do that, that it was too dangerous, but she had years of practice. She was practically a professional rail slider by now.

As she got closer to the end, however, the world doubled in front of her, and Ruby felt a great force weighting down her shoulders. The sensation didn't last more than a few seconds, but it was enough to make her dizzy and lose her balance. She fell forwards and off the rails, crashing hard on the ground in front of the school.

Ruby groaned, getting to her knees. She shook her head and looked down at herself. No blood. Nothing felt broken. Her clothes were a mess, and there was a big tear in her backpack.

A girl she didn't know stopped by her side and offered a hand. Ruby took it and stood up, her knees shaking a bit.

"Are you okay?" The girl asked, looking at her worriedly. "That fall looked like it really hurt."

"I'm okay, I think," Ruby rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Just a little sore."

"Really? I can go to the infirmary with you if you want."

"Uh, no, thanks," Ruby looked at the incoming crowd. While many people also looked concerned or sympathetic, a lot more were laughing and joking about the accident. "I think I'm more embarrassed than anything else. Man, this is just not my day."

"If you're sure…" The girl said hesitantly. "Well, I hope your day gets better. See you."

Ruby watched the girl leave, feeling incredibly dumb. She heard the crowd catching up to her, and so with burning red cheeks, she gripped her backpack and walked away quickly, eyes fixed on her feet.

* * *

" _…the correlation between the organization's increased activity in Patch and the rumors that Torchwick's gang has planted roots in the city seems obvious, and Commander Glynda Goodwitch's refusal to as much as acknowledge that fact only lends more credence to it._ "

Ruby rolled her eyes, tired of hearing about the same thing over and over again. Every news station had been talking about Torchwick for weeks now, and though she had been very excited about the idea of a famous crime lord moving into her city when she first heard about it, that had quickly lost its charm.

She reached for the TV remote on the desk in front of the sofa, but with the way she was lying down, almost upside down, it became an impossible feat. Ruby groaned in frustration, then gave up. She would just have to endure the rest of the report.

" _…the local police chief has released a statement, declaring that no help was ever requested or needed from Beacon. The statement was retracted later in the day, but animosity between the two organizations seems to remain…"_

"Yaaang!" Ruby yelled. "Heeelp!"

She waited for a moment, then heard her sister stomping to the living room. Yang came into view carrying a large bowl in her hands, her blond hair tied back by a hairband. Her eyes were filled with concern, but when she saw Ruby just lying there lazily, she just shook her head.

"Can you change the channel?" Ruby asked. "Pretty please?"

Yang sighed, then put her bowl down on the desk and sat down on the sofa. She grabbed the remote and changed to a channel that was running a program about the migratory habits of birds. Not exactly Ruby's cup of tea, but it was better than what had been on before.

"What you got there?" Ruby asked, pointing to the bowl.

Yang took it back and wrapped it with her arms possessively. "Chocolate pudding. I made it myself," she smiled proudly. "Gotta put on some weight so I can wear that graduation dress. It just slips off of me, every time," she shot her a significant look. "Remember to never let dad buy you a dress."

"That's not a problem for me. You know I don't like dresses." Ruby pointed out.

"Whatever you say, sis," Yang shrugged. "Why are you watching TV anyway? I thought you would be working on that weird pickaxe project you showed me."

Ruby spun so she was sitting upright in the sofa and punched her in the shoulder. "It's a scythe! I've told you that, like, a thousand times already!"

Yang mumbled a half-hearted apology, then swallowed a spoonful of pudding. Ruby eyed the chocolate for a moment, her stomach rumbling greedily. She had eaten a whole pack of instant noodles for lunch, but still… it looked so delicious…

Yang cleared her throat and edged away a bit, putting her meal at a safer distance from her sister. Ruby blinked and looked away, trying to appear innocent.

"Uh, I don't have the stuff I need to build the scythe yet. I need to go to the junkyard to get it, but…" Ruby sunk a little in the sofa. "I'm too tired to go today."

"Tired? You? That's a first," Yang frowned. "Did you do anything special today?"

"Nah. I'm just tired."

Yang looked at her suspiciously, but didn't say anything more, deciding to just let her be. Their attentions turned to the TV, though neither of them were very interested in the differences between a pelican's and a toucan's mating calls.

After a while, they heard their father's car entering the garage, then him entering the kitchen through the door connecting the two places. Ruby's face paled as she remembered he had been at lunch with his colleagues, the school staff from Signal – including her history professor.

He entered the living room and stood beside the sofa, shifting his gaze between his two daughters. "So," he finally pointed to the bowl in Yang's hands. "You gonna eat all of that?"

Yang growled at him, then started to eat the pudding at a much faster pace. Taiyang grinned, having gotten the reaction he wanted, then looked at Ruby.

"So," he began. "I heard a funny story today…"

Ruby scanned the living room for an escape route, but all the windows were locked, and he was standing in the way to the front door. "Uh… What story?"

"It was about a girl who didn't pay attention to class, instead choosing to draw overly complicated axe designs." Taiyang said.

"It's not an axe, it's a-" Ruby cut herself short, realizing that wasn't an appropriate response, considering the situation. "I'm sorry, dad. It's just that history class is so _boring_ … And I don't even need to pay that much attention to it! My grades are just fine."

"If by just fine you mean barely passable, then yes," Taiyang sighed. "I get it, Ruby. You're doing fine, you're passing every subject, some better than others… But that won't always be enough. What about after you graduate high school? The best universities don't accept people that are only average."

Ruby groaned, wishing she could be anywhere else right now. Her father wasn't like this often, he usually was fine with her only doing the absolutely necessary. Maybe hearing about her from his colleague had upset him?

"I mean, look at your sister," Taiyang continued. "She might not have the slightest clue what she wants to study, and she might have almost flunked every single year at Signal, but at least she went ahead and planned her road trip for next year. That's something!"

"Thanks, dad." Yang said, not tearing her eyes away from the screen.

"You're welcome, sweetheart," he patted her head absently-minded. "Look, Ruby. You can goof off all you want. I don't mind. But at least think about what you wanna be, okay?"

"But, dad," Ruby turned to look at him, her face deadly serious. "You already know what I wanna be."

The TV became the only noise in the room, as Ruby and him stared each other in the eye. Between them, Yang held a spoonful of chocolate in front of her mouth, frozen as she waited for an outburst coming at any moment, from either of them.

"Yeah. I know," Taiyang said finally, but instead of anger, there was only sadness in his voice. "You want to follow in your mother's footsteps. You always have," he shook his head. "How silly of me, thinking you had grown out of that death wish."

"Dad!" Yang snapped, glaring at him.

"Sorry," he muttered. "But I'm right. And that's the last I'm speaking of it."

True to his word, he turned around and disappeared in the kitchen, not uttering a sound. Ruby and Yang sat in the sofa in silence for a while, the latter staring sympathetically at her little sister.

"I'm going to my room." Ruby said, getting up.

"Ruby…" Yang reached for her arm, but Ruby had already walked past her.

"It's not about what dad said," Ruby paused. "I'm just…"

* * *

Tired.

That's how she felt like that whole day. And the next. And the whole week after that.

She spent most of her time lying quietly in her bed, reading a book, listening to music, or working on her project. Sometimes, when she got up, the world would become a blurry mess around her, and she'd feel that same weight on her shoulders she had felt when she fell at school.

Yang and her father checked up on her constantly, asking if she was sick, and she always said no. Not that she knew the answer, but it didn't feel like she was sick. No, she was experiencing something else, though she had no clue what it was.

She knew her father felt guilty, as if it was somehow his fault. Ruby assured him otherwise time and again, but she knew he didn't believe her, and that only added to how bad she was feeling.

Maybe, she thought to herself one time, it was just a temporary thing. Maybe she had eaten something odd. Maybe the consequences of staying up all night for months had finally caught up to her.

It would pass. It was just a matter of time. Or so she hoped.

* * *

"Hey, Ruby. Wake up."

Ruby opened her eyes and looked around. The blinders on her window were shut, a few rays of sunlight escaping between them, and the clock at her bedtable said it was six in the morning. Yang was kneeling by the side of her bed, looking up at her face anxiously.

"Mm," Ruby mumbled. "Sleepy. Why wake?"

"I'm taking you to school today," Yang said. "If you're feeling up to it, of course."

"But dad. Dad, car. Vroom vroom." Ruby poked her in the forehead accusatorily.

"But big sis. Big sis, motorcycle. Vroom vroom too," Yang smirked. "Just get up and meet me downstairs when you're ready."

Ruby tried to sound her agreement, but it only came out as a grunt. That was good enough for Yang, though, and she got up and left the room.

Ruby lied in her bed for a few more minutes, then forced herself to sit up. Somehow, she was feeling even worse. Every movement she made felt like it took double the time it would normally take, and it was hard to keep her eyelids from closing.

"No, no. Up!" She mumbled to herself. "Push through, Ruby Rose…"

With some difficulty, she dropped to her feet, wobbling dangerously for a second. Not wanting to test her luck by standing still any longer than she needed to, Ruby grabbed her school uniform from the ground and put it on, then took her backpack from her bedtable and exited her room.

As planned, Yang was waiting for her downstairs, sitting on the kitchen. She shot her a look of horror, then hurried to her and started to palm her hair in several spots. "Ruby! Did you forget to comb your hair? And wash your face? And everything else?!"

"I don't have time for that. Nobody's got time for that." Ruby defended herself lamely.

"It's six in the morning. You have more than enough time for that," Yang clucked her tongue. "Fine. At least I fixed your hair. A little bit. Hopefully those dark rings around your eyes will go away before class."

Yang grabbed her by the arm and started to drag her towards the garage. Once they were there, she went to her motorcycle and grabbed her helmet, then began to look around for Ruby's.

"Speaking of class and it being six in the morning," Ruby spoke up, now able to find coherent words as her mind began to work properly. "Why did you wake me up so early? Class starts at eight."

"I know. But I wanted to have some time alone with you, so we could talk," Yang explained, clawing through a box full of useless stuff. "Besides, we're going somewhere else first... Now, where is that – Aha! Found it!"

She returned with a red helmet peppered with illustrations of flowers and hearts. Ruby looked at it and grimaced. It had been a joke gift from their father, from when he had bought the motorcycle for Yang. Unfortunately, it was the only helmet they had that fit her, and it wasn't like she could ignore using it.

"Come on," Yang got on her motorcycle. "Bumblebee's waiting for you. You can manage holding on to me, right?"

Ruby put on the helmet and nodded, then climbed on behind Yang and wrapped her arms around her. Yang fished the remote from her pocket and pressed a button on it, opening the garage gate. After a little winding up of the wheels, she raced out of the house.

"So, where are we going?" Ruby asked, leaning her head over Yang's shoulder. "Is it the ice cream place? 'Cause I'm kinda hungry for ice cream…"

"Oh, me too, actually!" Yang exclaimed excitedly. "But no. It's somewhere else. Don't try to guess it, it'll just ruin the surprise."

"But I have eyes. I'll figure it out before we get there," Ruby said. "There's no way it will be a surprise."

"Well, uhm… Just… just play along, okay?" Yang sighed. "Stop being cute."

Ruby glared at the back of her neck. "I'm not cute, I'm-"

"Ruby!" Yang protested.

Ruby pouted, but decided to let Yang have her way, if only to make her happy.

They navigated the streets of Patch pleasantly fast, as there was little to no traffic so early in the morning. Ruby watched out for familiar landmarks and places they visited often, but Yang sped past all of them, never slowing down except to stop at red lights.

It wasn't until they were reaching the edge of town and the tree line that marked the beginning of the forest to the east of Patch that Ruby began to understand what was happening. Yang and her used to play there a lot when they were children, climbing on the trees and chasing the animals that lived there. They hadn't a care in the world back then.

But that had changed, at the same time that their cookie-baking competitions had ended, and their father picked up one more job at another school, and the house suffered from an emptiness that could never be filled again.

Everything had changed that day. Those memories felt like they were from another life. But clinging tightly to her sister, feeling the still familiar smell of the forest on her nose, Ruby pretended everything was the same.

"Ruby," Yang spoke softly, slowing the motorcycle down to a leisurely pace. The autumn leaves made cracking noises beneath the wheels, and the birds flew away from their path, alarmed by the unusual intruders. "You know dad didn't say it to hurt you, right? And that he wasn't mad at you or anything?"

"I know," Ruby muttered. "I just wish he'd understand me."

"I think he does understand. Maybe not completely, but a little. Just enough to accept it one day, when you're older," Yang said. "He doesn't want to lose you like he lost mom."

They came to a stop when a deer passed in front of them. It halted in its tracks, looking up at them with its beady eyes, then lowered its head again and walked away. Ruby watched it leave, her eyes shimmering a bit.

"Do you remember mom's funeral?" She asked.

"Sure," Yang replied, moving forward again. "It was huge. Lots of people came. Like, so many there almost wasn't enough space to fit everyone. And we didn't recognize half of them."

"Yeah. Dad and Uncle Qrow said they were past clients of her, or old colleagues and friends," Ruby said. "I didn't cry that much, remember? Not right then, at least. I was so amazed that so many strangers had come to pay their respects. Because, in some way or another, she had touched all their lives…"

"And that's when you knew you wanted to be like her?" Yang asked. "A bodyguard?"

"Yeah, right. _Bodyguard_ ," Ruby rolled her eyes. "We both know she was a superspy or something!"

"I don't know, we joked about that back then, and she laughed every time she heard it. I don't think she would have done that if she were a superspy," Yang said. "And why would she lie about her job?"

"Because that's what superspies do! Duh!" Ruby exclaimed, exasperated.

Yang smiled at her outburst and didn't object further.

"You don't think I'm stupid, right, Yang?" Ruby rested her chin on her sister's shoulder. "I don't have to be a superspy, or whatever mom was. But I wanna help people, just like she did."

"I get it, and I completely support you," Yang said kindly. "But there's lots of ways you can help people. You could try pursuing a career in mechanics or something like that. Think about all the stuff you could build and invent that would better people's lives!"

"That sounds neat," Ruby muttered. "But it's not enough."

Yang stopped the motorcycle, then got off of it. She stood with her back to Ruby for a moment, her hands at her hips, then turned around to face her.

"Ruby. You know I love you. I really do. I couldn't ask for a more awesome little sister. And Summer might not have been my mom, but it felt like she was, and that's what matters in the end," she said. "So trust me when I say, whatever you do… I know she'll be proud of you. Just like dad will be."

Ruby jumped to her feet and approached her for a hug, her lips trembling out of control. Yang smiled and wiped a tear away from her eye, then took her in her arms.

"And just like, most importantly," Yang said. "I will be."

* * *

Enduring school in her condition was still difficult that day, but her talk with Yang and the ice cream they'd had after helped a bunch. Without those, Ruby feared she would have fallen asleep before the first period was even halfway over, and that would have gotten her in serious trouble.

When the bell rang, indicating the end of school day, she was the last to leave the classroom. She stalled behind the mass of students leaving the building, going down the steps at a pace that would have driven her crazy were she her normal self.

Yang would be staying in school for a little longer, to take care of some things related to graduation, then she had kickboxing class afterwards, so she wouldn't be able to drive Ruby back home. Her father also was teaching in the afternoon that day, so he was out of the question too.

"Gah," Ruby grunted, taking her headphones from her backpack and putting them on. "Guess that means walking. Hopefully I'll get there before nightfall. _Hopefully_ …"

It wasn't as if she disliked walking back home. If anything, she quite liked it, even when it was by herself. It was always nice to see how people were doing at noon, during their breaks from work or coming back from school, just like her. And it helped that Patch rarely ever had bad weather.

Today, however, she wanted nothing more than to crash on her bed and sleep until next month. Or maybe she could find a cozy alleyway and sleep there for a while. Nobody would mind, right?

She walked for a while, not caring much for the people that passed by, then came to the corner of a street. She stopped at the curb and started to lean forward unconsciously, her eyelids dropping slowly…

Ruby gasped and shook her head, then turned up the volume of her music, just to be safe. She really had to get a hold of herself before something bad happened. Eager to get back home, she stepped off sidewalk to cross the street.

Halfway there, a loud honk interrupted her music, and she turned her head to the right, only to see a car coming straight her way. Her eyes widened…

And everything stopped. Everything. From the pedestrians on the sidewalks, to the vehicles in the busy midday traffic, and even herself, with one foot raised to run. Her music had stopped playing too. Now there was only silence.

Before she could even begin to question what was happening, Ruby felt the weight that had been plaguing her for the past week being lifted off her shoulders, and if she could, she would have laughed for how relieved she felt.

The world turned brighter and brighter, as if the sky itself was coming down on Remnant. Whiteness overtook the buildings, the cars, the people… A sharp noise surrounded her from every direction, like glass shattering into a million little shards...

Then everything started moving again, and Ruby found herself running so fast that her surroundings were but a blur of a million colors mixed together. She registered the feeling of her feet hitting the sidewalk on the other side of the street and tried to stop, but her body ignored her brain and kept going, even faster than before.

Her running came to an abrupt end when she slammed into a lamppost and went rolling on the ground. It took her a while to recover from the impact and stop, but oddly enough, she felt only a dull pain.

As people gathered around her in worry, Ruby got to her knees and held back a sneeze, feeling something tickling her nose. She grasped whatever the thing was in her hand and took a long, confused look at it.

A rose petal. Where had it come from? More importantly, what had she just done? And _how_ had she done it?

"Miss?" A woman called hesitantly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just…" Ruby rose to her feet, shaking her head in awe. "I think…" She added under her breath. "I think I have superpowers."


	2. My mom was a superhero

The junkyard's gatekeeper held back a yawn as he flicked through the pages of the morning paper. Things had been terribly slow in Patch lately, even with the tension brought by Roman Torchwick's rumored arrival, so reading the news didn't exactly help make his job any less boring.

Though he would never admit it out loud, he actually kind of liked when trouble came to the junkyard, like the teenage hooligans that somehow had gotten the idea that the place was their playground. They were a nightmare to deal with, but at least they were a distraction. And some of them weren't that bad, like that redhead girl – though he wondered what she did with all that scavenged material she always took with her.

He was startled to attention when a fierce wind pushed his newspaper against his face, blocking his view completely. There was a loud bang just behind him, and when he turned around to look, he found the gates of the junkyard had slammed shut.

"What the- We getting hurricanes now?!" He exclaimed, utterly baffled about what had just happened. Something caught his attention at the corner of his vision. He looked down and saw a few bright red rose petals scattered on the pavement. "Oh, gosh darnit... I don't get paid enough for this nonsense."

* * *

The sensation of the wind on her face; the world turning into a blur around her; that strange feeling of being there, but at the same time, somewhere else, as if she were more than just herself…

Everything about it was incredible. Ruby never wanted to stop running.

But she had to, as she saw a mountain of discarded electronics standing in her path. On her way to the junkyard, she had discovered that turning at such speed was incredibly difficult. She had caused more than a few scenes as a consequence, but was quickly learning her lesson.

A bigger problem, however, was that she didn't exactly how to, well, _stop_. When she started running, it was as if she lost all control of her own body. Something else took the reins, and she was at its mercy… for now. If there was one thing to be said about Ruby, it was that when she put her mind to something, she carried it out to the end, no matter what.

Gritting her teeth together and clenching her fists at her sides, Ruby focused on the fast movement of her legs. With a grunt, she managed to put one foot down and keep it there, dragging against the rough ground of the junkyard. Sparks flew, and she was pretty sure her shoe was coming undone, but she could feel herself slowing down gradually.

" _Aaah_ … _stop!_ " She yelled, putting her other foot down, and suddenly, she was no longer moving at super speed. Unfortunately, she didn't account for her momentum, and went flying head-first into the pile of electronics in front of her.

She dragged herself out of the garbage and rolled around, lying on her back for a moment, breathing heavily. The impact had taken the air out of her lungs, but she wasn't hurt. There was a dull feeling where she had hit the pile, but it was far from being actual pain.

Did she have super strength, too? Because that would be cool.

Smiling, Ruby sat up and looked around. Once more she found rose petals scattered all around her. Of all the things she had discovered about herself in the past hour, this was the one that really had her stumped. It was easy to wrap her head around running fast and not breaking every bone of her body when she stopped doing that. But the petals? Where the heck did they even come from? And how coincidental that she, Ruby _Rose_ , was-

"Oh my God," Ruby uttered, suddenly coming to a realization. "Mom was a superhero."

It all made so much sense now! She wasn't a bodyguard, nor a secret agent. She had superpowers, and she went away all the time to… to do superhero stuff!

Ruby jumped to her feet, giggling in delight. This was better than anything she had ever imagined! She had to tell Yang right away. Except…

"Oh…" She muttered, her face becoming solemn. "I guess it was a secret for a reason. And Dad must have known, so…"

Ruby sighed. He was already so worried about her wanting to be like her mother, he would probably not react very well to her inheriting her superpowers. Maybe once she knew how to use them better, she could tell him and he wouldn't have as much reason to be worried. But for now, she would have to keep them a secret.

"Okay, so…" she raised her chin and took a look at her surroundings. Without even meaning to, she started tapping the tip of her right foot against the ground, building a rhythm. She pulled her headphones up and set her favorite album to play next. "Let's get started."

* * *

Later that afternoon, as the sun set over the horizon, Ruby came back home, her body drenched in sweat and her hair an absolute mess after all the running she had done. She had lost track of time during her exercising, and had been too tired to run back home, so she had been forced to take a cab. That probably meant she wasn't the first one to arrive…

She found the front door already unlocked, confirming her suspicions. She pushed it open bit by bit, careful not to make any noise, then slipped inside. She took a look around her, and upon seeing no one, began to tiptoe exaggeratedly towards the stairs, like a cartoon character.

"Yo, sis," Yang appeared from the kitchen, her bag with her kickboxing equipment hanging on her shoulder. "…What are you doing?"

"Uh…" Ruby froze on the spot, one foot hovering above the first step of the stairs. "N-nothing?"

" _Right_ ," Yang said slowly. "You look like a car ran over you."

Ruby laughed nervously. How close to the truth Yang was… "I went, uh, jogging! You know! It's like running, but kinda slow, but not _too_ slow or else it would be just walking."

"Yes. I can confirm that _is_ jogging," Yang nodded amusedly. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Yep! I'm back to one hundred percent!" Ruby saluted her awkwardly. "Bye-bye!"

She raced up the stairs, leaving a very confused Yang behind.

"…Eh," the blonde shrugged. "Probably hormones."

* * *

Over the next week, Ruby continued to practice and get more used to her powers. Every day after school, she would go to the junkyard and set up exercises for herself, like running tracks and obstacle courses. It was good that not a lot of people hung out there, as she didn't have to worry too much about being discovered.

Accessing her speed was an easy matter. It required almost no effort now, becoming as trivial as walking or jumping. Stopping was trickier, but she was getting the hang of it, and she hadn't ruined another shoe in the process!

One thing she found curious was that she couldn't start running at anything but her top speed. There was no build up, no acceleration, she just went all out from the very beginning. She couldn't tell whether that was because of her inexperience or it just worked like that.

Also, turning was still a nightmare. It just didn't work, no matter how hard she tried. She had devised a work-around, by stopping abruptly and then running in the direction she wanted to turn to, but that was inefficient, and Ruby didn't like it. Her top priority was working on a way to fix that.

She had quickly discarded her theory about having super strength when she tried to lift some heavy objects, namely a car, a refrigerator, and a… moderately big microwave…

Yeah, she didn't have super strength. So why she wasn't getting hurt all the time was a mystery to her. It's not like she had unbreakable skin or accelerated healing or anything like that. She wasn't complaining, though.

Yang and her father were a little suspicious of her suddenly going back to normal, spending most of her time away from home and always showing up exhausted. They didn't press her for details, though. It wasn't like her behavior had been very _normal_ even before she had superpowers…

Overall, Ruby was happy with the direction her life was taking. School wasn't such a chore anymore, the tension in her family was gone, and she was finally spending her time on something she felt was truly worthwhile.

But she had to admit… She was getting anxious about putting her training to the test. And she could think of a way or two of doing that…

* * *

The Patch unit of Beacon, usually a forgotten and only barely maintained part of the organization, was seeing, for the first time in a decade, a surge of activity.

The change hadn't happened out of nowhere, because the people stationed there had decided to put more work in. And, no, it also hadn't happened because of Roman Torchwick, though he was a part of it. There was only one reason for it…

Commander Glynda Goodwitch. Famed for her temper and her devotion to her work, she had arrived at the station and whipped it up to line. Nobody wanted to be the first target of her particular attention, and so every agent had taken to work immediately and obeyed her to the finest of their capabilities.

Glynda was very aware of her reputation, and though she thought it an exaggeration – she was only that ruthless to the terrorists and miscreants they captured, never to her subordinates – she realized it had its utilities. For one, no one had dared asked what the finality of their work was, or why she was the one directing it. Good. She both couldn't and didn't want to share that with them. Director's orders.

The bulk of their work currently consisted of waiting and sitting on the base for hours upon hours. Occasionally, Glynda directed squads to interfere with or investigate matters related to Torchwick, but bringing down a crime boss and his syndicate was not as easy as beating up every goon they encountered.

But Glynda was nothing but a woman of patience. She hadn't gotten to where she was by rushing her missions to completion and taking half-measures. She would wait for years, if that's what her job demanded of her.

She was occupied writing a report to send to the Director in the main strategy room of the headquarters, when one of her agents approached her. He carried a tablet on his hands, which he was tapping nervously, but he refused to make eye contact and just stood in place.

"Agent," Glynda put her report aside and looked at the agent, not finding his dallying amusing at all. "Is there something that needs to be brought to my attention?"

"Y-yes, miss! I mean, ma'am – sir!" He almost shouted, choking on every word. He swallowed dry and took a deep breath, then spoke again, more calmly. "You put me in charge of scanning the city on a multi-energetical level, and… Well, I think we picked up something. Or some _things_."

He flipped his tablet and showed a grid of Patch to her. Her eyes wandered over it diligently, taking note of the various blinking points scattered throughout the east and center districts of the city. "Intriguing," she said. "Those are surges of energy, correct? What kind?"

"That is the tricky part, Commander. I have actually been taking notice of these… abnormalities for the past three days, but I wanted to analyze them properly before bringing them to your attention," the agent shook his head sheepishly. "But, to be honest, Commander, I have no clue what they are. The energy they put out isn't electromagnetic, thermal, nuclear, anything our systems could categorize. It could be an error, but I've checked multiple times and taken every measure at our disposal."

Glynda nodded, already making theories of her own. These surges weren't unfamiliar to her, but so many at once… It couldn't be _that_. This warranted further investigation.

"Good work, agent. Taking your time to fully assess the situation before approaching me was very sensible conduct," she said. "I want you to focus on monitoring these surges. I want patterns; any possible effects they may have on their surroundings; everything you can discern from what _is_ known to us. Report to me daily."

"Yes, sir!" The agent saluted, then walked away, returning to work immediately.

Glynda leaned back on her chair and picked her report back up. She would have to rewrite it entirely.

Things had just gotten a lot more interesting in Patch.

* * *

Loud pop music blasted from the night club, multicolored lights pouring from its windows onto the streets in front of it. The party had been going on for a while now, just long enough that some people were already leaving, either because they weren't having a good time, they had something to do in the morning, or both.

From a dark alleyway across the street, two men watched those early leavers, taking in every detail about them, like predators in wait for the perfect prey. Their eyes were hidden behind red-tinted shades, and both had revolvers on their hands.

"Hey," one of them whispered, nudging his head towards a trio of girls leaving the club. "What about them?"

"No, dumbass. They ain't even got purses on them," the other replied brusquely. "Smart. They probably know how to handle themselves. So, yeah, bad idea."

"My bad. What about those dudes?"

Two young men came out of the club. They certainly didn't look old enough to be at such a place, but still, one of them was having to hold the other by the arm to stop him from falling down and drooling on the pavement.

"Bingo." The more experienced of the criminals said, leaving the shadows of the alleyway, his partner following a second later. They crossed the street and followed the boys, trailing at a safe distance.

When they turned a corner and the lights of the nightclub ceased to be a problem, the criminals put on a faster pace and caught up to the boys, circling around them and pointing their guns at their faces.

"What the – _Crap_!" The more sober of the boys yelled, his eyes widening. "Please don't-"

"Quiet! You try and call for help, it won't get here fast enough, I guarantee you," one of the criminals said, spitting out every word as fast as possible. "Hand over your wallets, watches, whatever you got on you. And make it quick!"

"A-alright, c-can I just… put my friend down?" The boy asked frightfully. "He's not feeling well."

"Yeah, no shit," the other criminal snickered. "Dude ain't got a hair on his chin. Probably never seen a beer before tonight."

"Cut it out, dumbass," his partner glared at him. "This is why I hate having you along for these jobs," he turned back to the boys again. "Fine. Put him down. But hand over his stuff too, and don't try anything-"

He was cut off by the sound of approaching footsteps behind him, then a shaky female voice. "Excuse me?"

He breathed out in frustration, then nodded to his partner, signaling for him to keep his attention on the boys. He turned around, keeping his gun raised and finger tensed on the trigger… only to see a small redhead girl who looked like she was still in school, standing more than five meters from him.

"Oh, for crying out loud," he rolled his eyes, then made a weak effort of shaking his gun menacingly at her. "Move along! Forget you saw anything!"

Her head rose and fell as she scanned him from head to toe, biting her lip thoughtfully. "Are you… robbing them?" He stared at her in disbelief. "Okay. Just wanted to make sure."

He was about to yell at her to leave, but suddenly, she wasn't there anymore, rose petals scattering in the space where she had been standing. Then she was right in front of him, connecting a punch on his chest, and he went flying back, rolling painfully on the pavement. His partner exclaimed an expletive, while the boys just stared in utter confusion and awe.

Ruby winced and shook her hand, unaccustomed to the feeling that came with punching someone so hard, especially after running at super speed. But she composed herself quickly, remembering the situation she was in, and turned to the remaining gunman, who had yet to move an inch, so shocked he was.

"Alright, so, I know you guys must have a pretty good reason for doing what you do, and that not everyone gets the chances they deserve, _but_ ," Ruby raised her hands in a friendly gesture. "You can't just go around robbing people. I don't wanna have to knock you out too, so please, take your friend and leave."

He continued to stare at her.

"Oh, I almost forgot. One more thing," Ruby laughed nervously. And she had spent so much time planning her speech… "I'm letting you off easy this time, but I'd really appreciate it if you could take a step back and think about all the good you could-"

The sound of the gunshot rang through the street. The boys yelled and hugged each other, horrified. Smoke rose from the tip of the revolver, which was shaking wildly on the criminal's hand.

Ruby stumbled back, covering her forehead with her hands. God, it hurt. Her ears rang, and the world was doubling in front of her. She felt like collapsing to her knees and never getting up again. It was like the time she had caught a really bad cold when she was a kid and had to stay in bed for an entire week with her parents taking care of her, except a hundred times worse – and she didn't have anyone to help her.

Slowly, however, the pain dulled, and she felt a refreshing sensation pulse through her body. She lowered her hands and looked down at the bullet that had fallen between her feet, then her eyes rose to meet those that belonged to the man who shot her.

"…You wanna apologize for that, jerk?" She spat as venomously as she could.

At once, he dropped his gun and raised his hands above his head. Ruby glared at him for a while more, then punched him in the face, knocking him out instantly. She huffed, looking down at the man, then turned to the boys, who had recovered from their shock… somewhat.

"Did you just… tank a bullet to the head?" The drunkest one managed to say, his precarious condition not being enough to stop him from asking the important questions.

"Uh, yeah. I guess. I'm surprised too," Ruby muttered. "You guys need any help? I mean, this must have been super traumatic…"

"You serious?! You… you are such a badass!" He threw his arms up. "Thank you!"

"A-alright. T-thank you. I'll, uh, let you call the police, then," Ruby stuttered, her cheeks turning a deep shade of red. "Bye! Stay safe!"

Without another word, she turned around and ran off, disappearing in the blink of an eye. The boys stayed on the ground for a moment, the drunk one just gazing at the direction she had left in amazement, while his friend maintained a very displeased expression.

"Dude. I'm never drinking with you again."

* * *

While being shot in the forehead and surviving had most definitely been Ruby's highlight of the night, it was far from the only excitement she found for its duration. She learned very quickly that coming across ongoing crimes was not as difficult as it sounded – at least to her, that is.

She didn't come nearly as close to getting injured that badly again, having learned her lesson about chatting with armed criminals, though she did find some trouble taking them down without relying too much on her speed. Knocking people out was actually much harder than how they made it seem in the movies, and Ruby wasn't exactly a born fighter.

She made it back home just as the first signs of dawn appeared. She had stayed out much longer than she had planned, but at least her father and sister should still be sleeping at such an early hour on Saturday. Being careful about making noise, Ruby jumped and reached for the low ceiling of the front porch, barely making it because of her height, then pulled herself up. From there, she stuck close to the walls, sidling along them, until she made it to her room's window.

With a relieved sigh, Ruby slipped inside and immediately collapsed on her bed, hearing her heart beating fast on her ears. She was exhausted in every sense of the word, and half her body was aching in discomfort. If she could, she would sleep for a whole month…

But more than she was tired, Ruby was happy. Sure, she hadn't actually done much in the grand scope of things, but was there a more honest way of using her superpowers than by saving people who needed her help? If that was all she could accomplish, Ruby would happily do it for the rest of her life.

Humming a familiar song from long ago and smelling the aroma of fresh roses on her nose, Ruby drifted into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

Ruby went down the stairs two steps at a time, feeling reinvigorated after her sleep. She smelt bacon and tomato sauce in the air, and heard Yang talking from the kitchen. Ruby sneaked a look inside, then leaned with her back to the wall and listened.

"Are you sure he can't make it? I get it that he's busy and all, but… he always finds a way to be there for the important stuff," Yang was saying, leaning against the kitchen table while Taiyang stirred some pasta in a pot at the stove. "And what's more important than me graduating?"

"To him? Not a whole lot more, I imagine. But your uncle doesn't work like that. He's a 'greater good' kinda guy, you know," Taiyang shrugged. "Stubborn old Qrow, always trying to save the world."

"Yeah… I know. I'm not upset. Well, I kind of am, but not at him," Yang sighed. "I just wish he could be here."

"Who knows. Maybe he will show up, after all," Taiyang said. "It's not like we could ever predict his actions before."

Feeling bad for eavesdropping on their conversation, Ruby shook her head and walked into the kitchen. Yang and her father turned to look at her, both wearing surprised expressions on their faces.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty," Taiyang grinned. "Thought you were never gonna wake up. You stay up all night again?"

"Maybe," Ruby said sheepishly. "Maybe not."

"Eh, don't try and fool me. I didn't raise you for fifteen years to not be able to tell when you're lying," he noted. "Hey, as long as you make it productive, I don't mind you staying up late. And, well, also try not to collapse from exhaustion."

"Thanks, dad. You're the best!"

"That's what it says on the mug," Taiyang pointed to his prized _'Nº 1 DAD_ ' mug resting on the counter. The doorbell ringed, and he put his spoon down and wiped his hands on his apron. "Ooh! Must be the delivery guy with my custom-made starfish clock!"

"Your _what_?!" Ruby and Yang exclaimed at the same time, then shared a look, realizing they hadn't misheard what he had said.

"It's a clock in the shape of a starfish. And a big one at that, the kind that lives on the bottom of the ocean, not like those that-" Taiyang cut himself short. "You know what, I don't have to explain my shopping decisions to you. Someone take care of that pasta while I'm gone!"

He tossed his apron aside and practically ran out of the kitchen in his excitement. Yang shook her head in wonder, then went to the stove and started stirring the pasta again.

"So, sis," she said casually. "Where did you sneak off to last night?"

"W-what?!" Ruby stammered. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh, please. You didn't forget who taught you how to sneak inside and out of the house like that, did you? And you weren't as quiet as you think, trust me," Yang smiled. "So, what was it? Secret boyfriend?"

"N-no!" Ruby exclaimed, turning beet red. "No way I have a secret boyfriend!"

"Oh, okay," Yang said, trying her hardest not to laugh at her sister's reactions. "Didn't realize you were into girls."

"That's – that's not what I meant! Stop teasing me like that!" Ruby protested, feeling like opening the fridge and stuffing herself there to hide.

"Okay, okay. Sorry," Yang took a sip of the sauce mixing with the pasta, casting a discreet glance at her. "But seriously, where did you go?"

Ruby gulped and looked away. She could tell from the tone of her voice that Yang was worried about her, and her previous joking was just a way to ease the mood for their conversation. She couldn't blame her. Ruby rarely ever snuck out of the house, and when she did, she always told Yang why as soon as she had the chance, without having to be questioned.

Ruby went to the kitchen doorway and looked for her father. He was standing on the porch, receiving a couple of boxes from a delivery man and chatting with him.

"You promise not to tell dad?" She asked, walking closer to Yang. "I mean that. He can't know. Not yet."

"Jeez. Sounds serious," Yang said hesitantly. "Yeah. I promise."

Ruby took a deep breath. How should she tell Yang? Tell her the whole story, from start to finish? Maybe just the important parts? It sounded complicated, no matter what path she took.

"I… have superpowers."

Yang stared at her for a moment, showing no reaction. Then she turned her eyes back to the pot and started stirring more rigorously. "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. But don't make fun of me for wanting to know if my little sister needs my help."

"Yang! I swear, I'm not joking!" Ruby exclaimed. "I can run really, really fast, and bullets bounce off of me, and I make these weird rose petals every time… Please, just believe me!"

Yang looked at her again, this time with doubt in her eyes.

Before they could say anything else, their father came back sporting a wide smile on his lips. "Guess what! Someone got an extra octopus clock with their already _awesome_ order," he bragged shamelessly. "You didn't ruin the pasta, did you?"

"No," Yang said absently-minded. "I, uh, think it's ready, actually."

"Let's get to the eating, then! Woohoo!"

* * *

Lunch was weird, with Ruby and Yang shooting strange looks at each other constantly, trying to gauge what the other was thinking. Ruby didn't know what to expect from her sister. Maybe Yang was curious, maybe she was worried, or maybe she was even angrier than before. It was hard to tell.

Luckily, their father didn't seem to pick up on the heavy mood, and his incessant talking about underwater animals-shaped clocks was just baffling enough to carry them through the twenty minutes without any unfortunate incidents.

"And _that_ is why starfishes make the best clocks," he finished saying, leaning back on his chair and patting his stomach in satisfaction. "You girls finished? I'll do the dishes today, just 'cause I'm great like that. Say 'thanks, dad'."

"Thanks, dad." They spoke in unison.

"Yay, me." He said gleefully to himself as he picked up their plates and headed to the counter.

Ruby got up and exited the kitchen, headed straight to her room. She didn't make it halfway to the stairs before Yang grabbed her by the arm, stopping her.

"Ruby," Yang whispered, leaning her head close to hers. "Were you being serious before? That wasn't a joke?"

"Yeah," Ruby nodded. "I have superpowers. Swear."

Something sparked in Yang's violet eyes, some emotion Ruby couldn't quite place, but she knew it wasn't bad. Not, it wasn't bad at all.

"Show me."


	3. Red Girl Fast defends the defenseless

"Is this place good?" Yang asked, stopping her motorcycle gradually.

Ruby hopped off and took a look around. They were in a clearing near the edge of the forest, with enough free space for her to run a few laps without smacking against a tree or tripping on roots.

"Yep. Should be fine," Ruby said. "So, prepare to have your socks knocked off ya."

"I had the whole ride here to get prepared," Yang leaned back and gave her a smug smile. "Go ahead and impress me with your _superpowers_ , sister."

Ruby smirked impishly, then took off in a sprint without warning. The leaves on the ground jumped with the force of her takeoff, smacking Yang in the face. The blond gasped and waved her hands in front of her eyes, almost falling off her seat in the process.

Ruby slowed to a halt as she reached the edge of the clearing, then turned and looked at Yang, who was now staring at her with wide eyes. Ruby giggled, then sprinted back towards her. Yang, seeing only a red and black blur coming her way, yelled and covered her face with her arms.

Ruby stopped and crossed her arms, smiling smugly. Slowly, Yang lowered her arms, then let out a long breath. "Well," she spoke, not really knowing what to say after such a display. "You definitely weren't lying."

"Yep! I am _super_ fast!" Ruby said, then plucked a floating rose petal off the ear and held it in front of her sister's face. "What do you think of this?"

"It's a… rose petal?" Yang replied hesitantly. "Did you make it?"

"I always do that. No idea why, but it's pretty cool, right?"

Ruby put her hands on her hips and waited anxiously for an answer. She saw Yang's eyes darting up and down her body, as if she weren't sure she was real.

"Yang?" Ruby called softly, her excitement giving way to doubt. "They're cool, right? My superpowers?"

Yang blinked and stared at her face, then jumped off her motorcycle and held her by the shoulders, a big smile forming on her lips. "Cool? Are you kidding me? They're _awesome_!"

Ruby's eyes lit up with joy. What a relief! She had no idea what she would do if Yang didn't like her powers. She was fine with keeping their father in the dark, for now, but she needed Yang to not only know about them, but to approve of their use.

"How fast can you go?" Yang asked quickly, taking a step back and beginning to pace around, deep in thought. "I mean, are we talking lightspeed, here? I barely saw you run there and back…"

"No way!" Ruby exclaimed. "I don't think I'd be able to maneuver if I was _that_ fast."

"Oh, okay. So you're just super fast," Yang nodded. "But how do you do it? Do you just…" She snapped her fingers. "…and go?"

"I don't know, I just run," Ruby shrugged. "Well, kinda. I do run, but it feels really weird… like something _more_ than running. And I'm always just barely in control of my body. I'm getting used to the feeling, though."

"I don't really understand what you're talking about, but it's not like it's something normal, so I'm okay with that," Yang said. "How long has this been a thing?"

"A little more than one week. Remember how I was feeling so tired and weird for a while? Well, one day I was coming back from school, and it got really, really bad and I got distracted and a car was going to hit me…" Ruby said. "And then all that weirdness just… _went away_. It felt like something around me had shattered, and I was suddenly free. And then I just… you know, ran…"

Silence filled the clearing. Yang stopped, facing away from Ruby, and simply stood there for a while.

"…You think you got this from Mom?" She asked finally, in a quiet voice.

"Yeah. I mean, it must be. Unless you have superpowers too, then I guess it could be from Dad…" Ruby looked away awkwardly. "Uhm…"

"No. I don't have any superpowers… aside from being extraordinarily attractive, of course," Yang turned, wearing a very serious expression, despite her lighthearted joking. "So she was some kind of superhero?"

"Yep," Ruby nodded. "Must have been. Makes a lot more sense than her being a bodyguard, at least…"

"Right. So I guess now we know what you are going to be."

Ruby's shoulders slumped, her eyes wandering down to her feet. After a whole week of exploring her powers all by herself, she had been more than happy to talk about them with Yang. But now, reality was beginning to sink in. For the first time since she had dodged out of the way of that car, she stopped to think.

Superpowers. They were awesome. She never wanted to let them go. But what did they mean? What did her mother being a superhero mean? And following in her footsteps… Her father had been harsh in saying that it would end badly for her, but now that Ruby knew more about her… Was he really being that harsh, or just honest?

She didn't _have_ _to_ be a superhero. Like Yang had said, there were a lot of professions out there that would let her help people, like she wanted. Being an engineer didn't sound that bad. It might even be awesome, she had to admit. Taking that path would be much easier, safer, and probably would do her the most good in the end.

But she hadn't received these powers for no reason. Her mother hadn't died doing whatever she did for no reason. Ruby remember what she had done last night, stopping those robberies and saving so many people…

And suddenly, she couldn't imagine herself doing anything else in the future.

"Yeah," her eyes rose to meet Yang's. "I want to use these powers to help people. To save those who can't save themselves, and to stop bad people from doing bad things to them," Ruby nodded. "That's what a superhero is, I think."

"I guess it is," Yang said. "Is that what you were doing last night, Ruby? 'Helping people'?"

Ruby hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yep. I stopped some muggings. It was cool. A guy I saved said I was a badass."

"Well, I'm not gonna disagree with him," Yang frowned. "But running around at night, looking for random crimes to stop… that's not a very safe thing to do, Ruby."

"But… But I have superpowers! I just showed you I can run faster than a car! And I barely get hurt anymore. I got… I got shot right here…" Ruby pointed to her own forehead. "… and the bullet just bounced off me! No dead Ruby!"

"Okay, that's nice, but it doesn't make you invulnerable!" Yang growled. "Mom had superpowers too, but she didn't die of old age, now did she?"

Ruby crossed her arms and looked away, pouting. She really thought Yang was on the same wavelength as her, but evidently, she had thought wrong. What was she supposed to do now? She would never be able to sneak out the house again. Surely, Yang would tell her father if she did, and then everything would be over.

Ruby heard Yang moving, and when she looked at her, she was standing right in front of her, her lips curving into a sly smile. "Don't look so glum, sis. I never said you couldn't save people… You just gotta learn how to do it, the best way possible."

"Oh," Ruby blinked. "How? Are we marathoning superhero movies or something? 'Cause I don't think they're like real life at all."

"Says the upcoming superhero," Yang chuckled. "No, Ruby, we're not watching superhero movies," she cracked her knuckles. "I'm training you myself."

"W-what?! You're gonna teach me kickboxing?!" Ruby exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Kickboxing? No. Sorry, Ruby, but you're kinda... too small for that stuff," Yang said. "I'm gonna teach you how to defend yourself. And you're gonna put a lot of work in getting some actual muscles. Ain't no use in knowing how to throw a punch if your arm's like a matchstick."

"Okay!" Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "Sounds fun."

Yang crossed her arms and tilted her head slightly.

"Oh," Ruby winced. "It's not gonna be very fun, right?"

* * *

From that day onward, Ruby began a serious workout schedule overseen by Yang every step of the way.

Every day after coming back from school and lunching, she dedicated herself to whatever exercise her sister had prepared for her that day. Sometimes Yang would have her running for as long as possible; other times, she had to lift weights or do lots – _lots_ – of pushups.

Ruby's least and most favorite activity, at the same time, was when Yang tried to teach her how to fight. In a somewhat predictable turn of events which she hadn't predicted at all, self-defense did not involve doing complicated poses and yelling out attack names. Instead, it was all about using what little weight and height she had to her fullest advantage, and hopefully not getting hit in the process.

While it was actually really interesting to learn, and Yang was a good, if a tad too demanding at times, teacher, Ruby failed to see the point in her undertaking those particular lessons. It wasn't as if the thugs she took down could ever see her coming, what with her super speed and all.

During one particularly painful afternoon, after getting knocked on her butt for the seventh time in a row, Ruby put that opinion out in the open. Yang just stared at her for a moment, then asked her to hit her as hard as possible. Before Ruby could even raise her arm to strike, she was hit in the forehead with a harsh slap, and fell on her butt for the eighth time that afternoon.

"You didn't see _that_ coming, did you?"

After that, Ruby never questioned her sister's methods again.

* * *

Ruby's nights out became a frequent endeavor of hers. She made sure to sneak out the house two or three times each week, at least, and while Yang could have certainly stopped her anytime she felt like it, that never happened. There was an understanding between them: Ruby was just beginning her training, but she needed to be out there, no matter how dangerous that was.

Patch, like any other heavily populated settlement, was rife with crime. She had plenty of things to keep her occupied, but unfortunately those were the things that got normal people hurt all the time. It was bittersweet, Ruby thought, but she had to learn how to deal with the fact that the world really wasn't that good of a place as she would like to believe.

She could at least take comfort in the knowledge that she was doing good, and that brought the world a little closer to being the way she wanted it to be. After all, things wouldn't become better just because that's what people wanted. Someone had to put in the work, and as the awesome new superhero in town, she was more than ready to take on that burden.

* * *

Unfortunately, Ruby's life did not revolve solely around beating up bad guys and running around at the speed of sound. She still had school, and all the responsibilities that came with it.

They were entering the last months of classes, and that meant the hardest exams of the year were coming up soon, along with some projects and such. Ruby did what she had to do, and even studied a little bit here and there, which was a novelty for her. Her father was too happy about that to be suspicious of why she was spending so much time out of the house, and Yang had the ever-convenient excuse of preparing for graduation to cover her absences too.

What Ruby didn't prepare for was the moment in which, perhaps inevitably, her life as a superhero and her life as a student began to mix together.

One day, while she sat in her desk listening to her chemistry teacher talking about some boring conversion formula, she overhead two of her classmates whispering to each other behind her.

"And then she just said something like ' _my work here is done_ ' and ran away, as fast as she showed up. She just left those bad guys knocked out in the street. My cousin had to call the police to pick them up."

"Dude, no way. I know your cousin. He loves telling those stories, and ninety percent of the time, they're lies. You know what I'm talking about."

"I know, I know, but the things is, we can always tell, right? But when he was telling me, he was _super_ serious. No smiling. No holding back from laughing. I think it really happened. There's a real superhero in Patch, dude."

Ruby covered her mouth with her hands and sunk a little in her seat. Suddenly, she felt like the whole class was looking at her. A drop of sweat ran down the back of her neck as she imagined someone turning to her and accusing her of being a superhero. Oh, God. How was she supposed to answer something like that?

"Okay, so let's say there _is_ a teenage girl with super speed in town, saving people from criminals and all that. What does she look like?"

"Well, my cousin said she was kinda small, which is funny considering, you know, she's beating up grown men. He said she might be our age, and that she had weird hair. Black with red tips?"

"Like Ruby?"

"Yeah. Like Ruby."

The two were silent for a moment, while Ruby sunk even lower in her seat, almost slipping out of it and falling off. Then she heard them laugh quietly and one of them slapping their thigh.

" _Right_. Ruby is a superhero. Give me a break."

"Maybe it's a relative of hers? Twin sister?"

"Nope. I think your cousin was pulling your leg."

"Yeah… Probably…"

Ruby sighed in relief. That was a close one. But what if she was suspected again? She wasn't going to stop crimefighting anytime soon, so rumors were no doubt going to start circulating about her. She needed to do something about it.

* * *

"Really, Ruby? _Really_?"

Ruby leaned back on her bed and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. Yang looked from her to the drawing on her hands, then back to her.

"This doesn't make your identity any less obvious than it already is," she pointed out, more amused than anything else. "I mean… It's nice and cool. But you already only wear black and red anyway. That's, like, the only colors you know."

"Hey!" Ruby pouted. "I know every color there is! I learned them in school a long time ago!"

"Good for you, Ruby," Yang patted her in the head lovingly. "You could at least wear something to hide your hair. Seriously, how hasn't anyone put together that you're the new mysterious superhero yet?"

"I'm not hiding my hair!" Ruby protested, slapping her hand away. "It's mine. Mine mine mine."

Yang sighed, then gave the drawing another look. "…And a skirt?"

"It's a battle skirt! Designed specifically for running!" Ruby growled.

"Okay, okay. Jeez, no need to get so defensive about it," Yang said. "Listen. I can make this for you. But you gotta at least wear a mask."

Ruby crossed her arms and looked up at her with doe eyes. Yang held her stare for a moment, then looked away and sighed.

"Just an eye mask?" She suggested grudgingly.

"I'm okay with that!" Ruby threw her arms up in celebration. "Yay for superhero outfit!"

"I really shouldn't be enabling you like this…"

* * *

Roman Torchwick entered the warehouse, spinning his cane leisurely in his hands. The place was packed full of his people running errands, and as they saw him coming, they slowed down to greet him anxiously, then continued on their way. He couldn't stop himself from smiling.

Running a gang of organized crime was no easy task. Running _the biggest_ gang of organized crime in Remnant was an even harder task. But it had more than its fair share of benefits. After the wealth, Torchwick's favorite was the respect – or fear, the difference did not matter all that much to him – he was accustomed to seeing in his subordinate's eyes whenever he was around them.

He was beginning to notice something a bit… unusual, however. His people were being _too_ wary of him lately. There was something happening, something he wasn't yet aware of, and he had a feeling he wouldn't like it when he discovered what it was.

He waited for a faunus woman with a clipboard to pass in front of him, then grabbed her by the back of her shirt and dragged her back to stand in front of him. "A report, if you would?"

The woman gulped, then looked down at her clipboard. "Uhm, earnings are… down, sir. This week has seen a forty seven percent drop in our profits. I fear that if this doesn't turn around, we'll start to _lose_ money being here… sir…"

"Oh, that's great. Thanks for the analysis. That's just great," Torchwick groaned. "It's Beacon, isn't it? The boys and girls in white are giving us trouble?"

"No more than they were giving us when they first arrived here after us," the woman looked away. "I think the cause is actually a…" Her voice slowly died off, as if she were having second thoughts about what she was about to say.

"A what?" Torchwick asked, glaring at her. "A vigilante? That would be new. Shake things up a bit, for once."

"Uh, no. I think you were right, sir. It's Beacon," she nodded. "Can I go?"

Torchwick dismissed her with a gesture, then turned to examine the warehouse with his eyes. Yes, the place looked much emptier than it should be. There were no crates of stolen goods up to the ceiling, as it always happened in the first months of operations in a new town, before the local police smartened up.

Beacon really was a problem. And there was only one way to deal with problems of that kind. You face them head on. Then if you win, you take the spoils, or you lose, and flee with your tail between your legs – figuratively speaking, he was as pure a human as could be found nowadays.

He had had run-ins with Beacon in the past. They were always a handful to deal with. And with Commander Goodwitch, the Director's right hand woman, in station, fighting them in Patch would require a lot of resources.

Luckily, he knew just the place to get what he needed…

* * *

" _Talk_."

Glynda's baton hit the metal table. The noise reverberated through the interrogation room, making the man flinch, but his lips remained closed. Frustrating, but not overly so. This was far from the first time Glynda had a difficult interrogation on her hands.

"Listen. This can go two ways," she said, assuming an even tone of voice. "You can talk, and you'll be out of here in no time, transported to a nice cozy cell, where you will stay for, let's see… two months. Because while, without shadow of a doubt, you are a crook, at least you had the decency to be a cooperative crook," Glynda paused. " _Or_ … you can be stubborn. You'll sit here for days, because I'm not the type to give up. And then finally, when, not _if_ , you decide to talk, you'll be gifted with two fleeting _decades_ of jailtime."

He looked up at her crossly. "Bullshit. You can't do that to someone like me," he said. "I'm a nobody. I do little crimes, no guns. People barely look at me. Two decades? In your dreams, lady."

"You're right. Partially. In a court of Vale, or any other country, for that matter, the sentence would be preposterous," Glynda sat down in front of him and leaned in closer, smiling. "But you weren't caught by the Patch Police Department, now were you? No. The first ones to get to your knocked-out ass in the street were agents of Beacon. And Beacon, as an international force sanctioned by the World Council, is authorized to make its own judgements, and its own sentences."

She watched his defiant expression slowly break and give way to fear. He squirmed on his chair and joined his hands on his lap, then muttered something under his breath.

"What was that?" Glynda asked.

"I said I can't give you the Boss' location. I wasn't lying when I said I was a nobody. He hired me through a middleman, 'cause I'm a local and…" He shook his head. "Only thing I can tell you is that he has a lot of people, and they got a whole system down and working already. Guy knows his stuff. You don't do something fast, everyone in town ain't gonna have a dime left in their bank accounts."

"We are working on that," Glynda said. "Thank you for your cooperation. I'll bring in another agent to ask you some more questions, then we'll see about your sentence. One month and a half, was it?"

He looked at her, startled, but didn't say anything. Glynda gathered the files she had spread on the table, then went to the door. As she reached for the doorknob, she heard him clear his throat, and looked back over her shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Uhm. I was wondering… Well, I always heard stories about Beacon. Boogey-monster stuff, you know, to scare us… bad guys, I guess," he said. "But do you really have agents young like that? She looked like she was in high school. No offense."

" _She_?" Glynda repeated confusedly. "Who are you talking about?"

"The girl who knocked me out? Redhead, small, _really_ fast?" The crook blinked. "Oh, God. She wasn't an agent, was she? I got beat up by a random little girl."

Glynda nodded, distracted by her own thoughts, and exited the room. A small redhead girl, who was really fast… Perhaps not so random as the man believed.

* * *

The scythe was not coming along nicely. Not at all. The clinking of metal and the grinding of cogs spinning together filled Ruby's room, and there was a heavy smell of oil permeating the air. Her hands were tainted black up to the wrist, and there were dark blotches on her face and clothes.

"Gr… Just. Stay. Together!" She grunted, giving one last spin to the gears connecting the blade and the cable.

The metal creaked ominously, and Ruby jumped and ducked under her bed, not really warm to the idea of being beheaded because of a mechanical mishap. Luckily, the gears held. Ruby jumped back to her feet and approached her desk with a wide smile on her lips.

"Yes! My baby!" She took the scythe and swung it in a circle around her, nearly hitting her wardrobe. It was lighter than she expected, considering all the heavy material she had used in its composition. Yang's training was paying off, it seemed. But the scythe still required a firm grip to hold properly.

"Okay. Now you take a nap," she said. "Please don't fall to pieces again… _please_ …"

Gingerly, she pushed the button she had installed on the side of the cable, near where her fingers were positioned when she was holding it. The weapon creaked once, twice, thrice, then the blade retracted into a compartment in the cable, which then started to fold into itself. A few seconds later, Ruby was holding a thin metallic rectangle in her hands.

"Eh, kinda slow. Gotta work on that," she noted. "Wake up?"

She pushed the button again, and the rectangle unfolded, except for the blade. Ruby glared at the missing end, shook the object a bit, and then the blade came out.

"Alright, so now that you're not falling apart anymore…" Ruby said, laying the scythe down on her desk and grabbing a piece of paper and a pen to scribble some annotations. "I gotta work on that folded-unfolded transition… Cover up the inner mechanisms for protection, which will probably add some more weight… And then work on the last, most awesome touch: pew pew!" Ruby sighed. "That's gonna be complicated on so many levels…"

"Yo," Yang entered her room, hiding something behind her back. "Why are you talking to yourself? And why are you covered in oil?"

"I'm working on my baby." Ruby said matter-of-factly, pointed to her scythe.

"Oh, okay. You calling that giant piece of lethal machinery your baby is not disturbing at all, by the way," Yang said. "Anyway. I've finished _my_ baby. Are you ready to see?"

"Ooh!" Ruby squalled, covering her eyes in expectation.

"Ruby. Why are you covering your eyes when I just asked you if you're ready to see it?" Yang asked. Somehow, after all these years, Ruby still managed to confuse her with her antics sometimes.

"…That's a good point," Ruby lowered her hands, blushing in embarrassment. "J-just show it already."

Yang imitated the sound of drums with her feet, then swung her arms from behind her back, revealing Ruby's superhero outfit. Ruby squealed excitedly again, reaching forward to grab it, but Yang took it out of her reach, glaring at her.

"It took me a week to make this outfit. You touch it with those greasy hands of yours, and, sister or not, I will bury you in our backyard," she whispered. " _Alive_."

Ruby made a whining noise and backed off reluctantly. Yang would have felt guilty, if she didn't care so much about her precious work.

"Can I use it tonight, please?" Ruby asked, twiddling her thumbs sheepishly. "A-after I take a bath, of course…"

"Sure. Just be careful not to tear it or get bullet holes in it or..." Yang frowned. "I just realized this thing is not going to last very long."

"Nope," Ruby smiled. "But it's worth it, sis, because I love you for making it for me!"

She made to hug her, but Yang once again glared at her. Ruby looked down at her hands, then hid them behind her back and chuckled nervously.

"Anyway. Can you do one more thing for me?" She asked sweetly.

"Jeez, Ruby. I'm already spending half my time training you, and making you this outfit, and worrying about you…" Yang said. "I gotta have some time for myself, you know? I have school and graduation and my friends…"

"Pleease?" Ruby insisted, using her signature doe eyes again. "It's just one quick thing…"

"Crap. Why do you always do that to me?" Yang sighed. "Fine. One quick thing."

"Alright!" Ruby exclaimed. "Do you still have that fake ID you use to get into parties you really shouldn't be attending at your age?"

"…Yes," Yang said cautiously. "You're not going to ask me for booze, are you?"

"No!" Ruby scoffed. "I want you to buy me some Dust. You know, the explodey type. Then I can use it on my scythe and stabilize my speed by-"

Yang raised a hand, interrupting her. "Nope. I'm not giving you the means of building a gun. You're on your own."

Without another word, she tossed the outfit on Ruby's bed, then turned and left the room, closing her door behind her. Ruby stood in the middle of her room, looking dejected, hoping that she would come back…

When a minute passed without Yang returning, Ruby dropped her façade and shrugged. "Oh, well. It was worth a try," she said, her gaze wandering to her new outfit, and near it, the eye mask her sister had also made for her. "But I have my ways…"

* * *

Soft music played on the speakers as _From Dust till Dawn_ 's owner set it up for closing. Contrary to the store's name, it did not remain open all night long. No, no, that would be too dangerous an undertaking, considering that the vast majority of the items at sale could be used as explosives or fire starters. It wasn't as if anyone ever went there so late, anyway.

That was the reason why the jingle of the door opening and closing was so surprising to him, but even that surprise didn't hold a candle to what came next. A girl entered the shop, wearing a black blouse and skirt, with pantyhose covering her legs. A long red cape followed behind her, almost dragging on the ground, and around her eyes was a crimson mask.

As he stared in disbelief, the girl sauntered over to the counter and leaned on it, smiling charmingly at him. "Hey," she said, using a deep voice that definitely wasn't her normal one. "I'm here to buy some Dust. The explode- the _heavy_ kind!"

The shopkeeper stared for a moment, then shook his head and pointed to a sign posted on the pillar just beside the counter. She followed his direction with her eyes, then scoffed.

"Yeah. I'm not underage," she said, her voice cracking a bit. "I'm n-nineteen."

His eyes straightened, and he held out his other hand, while pointing more ferociously with his other.

"Huh? You want my… my ID?" She gulped. "Uh – yeah – oooh, where is it?" She patted her skirt and blouse, which were obviously lacking in pockets. "H-how embarrassing! I must have left it in… uh, your bathroom!"

She disappeared, leaving behind a bunch of floating rose petals. The shopkeeper heard the door of the bathroom opening and closing at the back of the store, then sighed, and continued to close up as if nothing had happened.

* * *

"Oh my God, that was dumb," Ruby splashed water on her face and looked at the mirror above the bathroom's sink. "Yeah, Ruby, you totally look like a nineteen-year-old. Not… thirteen! Gah!"

She splashed her face again, then took a deep breath. Her plan had been unbelievably stupid, yes, but freaking out about it wouldn't help at all. Locking herself in the store's bathroom? Bad move too, but since she was here now, maybe the situation could be salvaged.

Obviously, she couldn't convince the shopkeeper she wasn't underage. But maybe there was some way she could convince him to sell her some Dust. She had lots of money at hand, monthly allowances gone untouched for years. Maybe if she offered double the price, he'd accept?

"Oh, who am I kidding?" She sighed. The shopkeeper was way too strict about his policies, she could tell.

Truthfully, she shouldn't even be trying this. Ruby was a superhero now, she was supposed to set a standard to other people. What example was she giving by lying about her age and scheming shady deals?

That was it. She was going to walk out of the bathroom, apologize to the shopkeeper, leave his store, and never even _think_ about buying Dust until she was eighteen.

As she reached for the doorknob, Ruby heard someone speaking outside. His tone of voice wasn't friendly at all, and by straining her ears a bit more, she was also able to pick up on the sound of motors running in the street.

Quietly, she unlocked the door and pushed it open, then sneaked a peek outside. The shopkeeper was standing behind the counter, his back turned to her, with his arms raised above his head. In front of him stood three men with red shades, the one in the middle pointing a pistol at his head.

Ruby gasped when she saw two other men combing through the contents on display on the store's shelves, Dust crystals of all kinds and also ammo for normal weaponry.

"Don't even try reaching for the panic button, old man," the man with the pistol said. "I got my eye on you."

"Yeah, and if you put the police on us after we leave, you're gonna regret it!" Another one at his side added. "Torchwick is not a merciful man, you hear? So keep your mouth shut!"

The shopkeeper nodded fervently and waved his hands. Ruby gritted her teeth angrily and leaned forward, formulating a plan of attack. She was so distracted, she failed to notice as one of the men doing the ransacking turned his head towards her.

"Hey!" He yelled. "There's a girl here!"

"What?!" The gunman barked. "Get her, you-"

Ruby shoved the door open and tackled the man who had spotted her, slamming him against a wall, then spun and set her sights on the leader. Thinking fast, she sprinted at full speed and jumped on the counter, taking a boost from it and landing a kick on his face that sent him flying out of the store through the front door.

Ruby landed back on the counter and yelled at the remaining men inside the store. "Back off! It's not too late for you to leave!"

A gunshot rang out, and her head snapped to the side. Ruby glared at the man who had shot her. The criminals shared a few glances, then ran out of the store. Ruby looked over her shoulder at the shopkeeper, who was hiding behind the counter, and winked at him, then pursued the men.

There were eight motorcycles parked outside, one of them already occupied by the man who had been kicked off the store. He was smart enough to know to flee. Unfortunately, Ruby couldn't stop him from turning and riding away, as she had a lot more to deal with.

One of the criminals, who had been standing guard outside and thus hadn't witnessed her powers yet, charged her with one fist raised. Ruby ducked under his punch and, remembering Yang's lessons, grabbed his extended arm and flipped him over her, tossing him on the ground.

Bullets filled the air, but Ruby wasn't eager to tank them if she could help it – Yang had just made her outfit, after all – so she took off, running to the other side of the street, then kicked off against a building and returned, punching another criminal unconscious.

She spun, her cloak concealing her for a brief second, then stopped and stomped on the nearest criminal's knee, causing him to yell in pain and collapse. "Who else wants some?!"

Two of the men gave up and ran towards the motorcycles, but Ruby appeared in front of them, covering their vision with rose petals. She jumped and grabbed each one's hair with a hand, then slammed their heads together, knocking them out.

"What the hell are you?!" One of the two remaining men shouted in fear.

"I am…" Ruby began, puffing her chest bravely, then was silent for a few seconds. "Uh, I haven't come up with a name yet, actually. The, uh… Red… Girl… Fast!"

The pair just stared at her for a moment, then looked at each other. "Can we just go?"

"Nope."

Ruby ran at them, punching them in quick succession, rendering them unconscious.

"Red Girl Fast," she repeated. "I need to ask Yang for a superhero name, ASAP."

She poked her head inside the store, seeing the shopkeeper dialing his phone desperately.

"You okay?" She asked. The shopkeeper nodded. "Alrighty, then. Uh, any chance you wanna sell me some Dust?" He pointed at the sign again. "Yeah, I figured. Have a nice night!"

She closed the door and inspected her clothes. After discerning that nothing was damaged, she made a satisfied noise and skipped away, leaving a trail of unconscious thugs behind.

* * *

Torchwick grunted as he marched towards the entrance of the warehouse, his whole face red with rage. The door was closing immediately after the lone rider got in, and a small crowd was gathering around him. Oh, they wouldn't want to be standing there for long…

"You!" Torchwick yelled. "Where are the others? I sent _eight_ of you to that old fool's store, and only you return?! And where's the loot?!"

The crowd dispersed quickly, as he predicted. The rider got off his motorcycle, shaking in fear. "I'm sorry, Boss. There was a… problem. We were, uh, stopped. Only I managed to flee."

"A problem?" Torchwick repeated, calming down somewhat. "Beacon. I should have seen this coming. There was only so much time before they began to interrupt our operations."

"Uh, y-yeah," the rider gulped. "It was Beacon! D-definitely! Haha! Hah…"

Torchwick set his gaze on him again. "…It wasn't Beacon, was it?"

The man shook his head slowly. Torchwick held back a sigh.

"Then _what_ was it that stopped eight grown men from robbing a decrepit old shopkeeper?"

"A… a little… girl…" The man muttered.

"…Excuse me?" Torchwick turned sideways and leaned his ear closer to the man. "Did you say 'little girl?"

"Y-yes, Boss. She was fast. Like, too fast to be normal," the rider said. "We shot her in the head, but she wasn't even fazed." He began backing off slowly, expecting an outburst from his boss.

To his surprise, Torchwick did not say a word to him, instead turning and leaning on his cane a bit. He took his bowler hat and held it in one hand, spinning it absently-minded.

"Well, well, well. One of _them_ ," he said. "Interesting. Very interesting…" He spun to face his people gathered on the warehouse. "Listen up, people! The time for preparation is over! Next task is the big heist!"

A few applauded, others just nodded, but most just remained in anxious silence.

"Don't worry. I'll be helping you in person, of course," Torchwick grinned. "And then I'm hightailing the hell out of this city."


	4. The unexpected librarian's visit

" _can_ _a heart be turned to stone?_ "

Tonight has been pretty boring so far, Ruby thought. She had been going on her usual patrol routes for a couple hours now, and had even deviated a bit in hopes of coming across some crime to stop, but it was no good. Had the criminals of Patch taken the night off?

Did criminals take vacations? She hoped so. She was feeling the need for some time off of her own, too. A full night of sleep would be nice, for once.

As she reached a corner, Ruby froze. She suddenly was having an awful feeling of being watched by someone just behind her. Slowly, she lowered her hand to her phone, which she had strapped securely to her belt, and tapped on the screen to pause her music.

" _keep it from the world, why won't you let me hide from-_ "

Ruby lowered her headphone and rested it around her neck, then closed her eyes and paid close attention to the noises surrounding her. The soft breeze parting around buildings. An insect cricketing in the grass nearby. A car moving fast on another street. Nothing out of the ordinary.

She looked over her shoulder and saw no one. Right then, the streetlights seemed to be in a losing battle against the darkness surrounding them. An alleyway between two houses near her caught her attention, what resided within it hidden by layers upon layers of shadows.

Ruby steeled herself, then took a few steps towards it, fully intent on catching whoever was spying on her… and remembered every horror movie she watched, and how many characters died by being dragged into the darkness by a serial killer or a monster.

"Nope," she turned around and marched in the opposite direction. "Not today. Nope."

Taking the night off really did not sound bad at all.

* * *

The flood of students coming out of the school was pleasing to see. Glynda knew that half of them probably didn't even want to be there, but it was good to know all of them had the opportunity of a good education. And indeed, Signal was an excellent school, even in a country-wide scale.

She examined the crowd for a moment more, then lowered her eyes from the window of her company van to the tablet laying on her lap. Analysis of the energy surges had wielded a pattern that frequently began here. It was safe, then, to assume that whatever – _whoever_ – was causing them was a student or staff there.

Her eyes flicked to the crowd again, then back down. Suddenly, her tablet started bleeping, and the city grid lighted up with energy surges right on the street she was. She looked up… but nothing had changed.

"Damnit." She cursed quietly, opening the door and jumping out of the van.

In the brief moment she had looked away, the source had manifested. Perhaps it wasn't her fault for tearing her eyes way for a second, but a testament to how fast this powered stranger was.

Sighing, Glynda walked around her van and stepped onto the sidewalk. She examined the crowd absently-minded while she planned for a new approach to the problem. She wanted to keep the investigation as secretive as possible, but perhaps it was best to bring a couple of agents with her the next time. The chance of them missing the moment would be much lower then. And she was sure the Director would understand if…

Her thought process came to a screeching halt when she looked down and saw a rose petal lying between her feet. Glynda's eyes slowly rose to follow even more of the petals, leading a trail back to the outskirts of the school.

Well, that was a development if she'd ever seen one.

She got her phone from her pocket and tapped quickly, then put it to her ear. "Agent. I need the address and phone number of a lead," she said. "Ready? …Taiyang Xiao Long."

* * *

Preparations for the heist were going smoothly, which in Torchwick's experience, was often not the case. His underlings were always so slow with these things, but now, it was as if they were all possessed to work as fast as was humanly – or _faunusly_ , he supposed – possible.

He had to admit, as much of a hassle as this new vigilante girl was, the fear she put in his people made them very helpful. If only that carried into the field. Then his gang would truly be unstoppable.

"Sir," his accountant spoke behind him, holding her clipboard close to her chest. "Perry says the anti-robotics measures are ready for use. He only needs to see you later to, uhm… calibrate?"

"Yes. That's always fun," Torchwick said dryly. "Anything else?"

"Weapons and ammunition should be sorted out by the end of today," she answered. "That is all."

"Well, then," he clapped his hands and smiled triumphantly. "Tomorrow is the big day."

* * *

"You know you could just run back home, right?"

Ruby slapped the back of Yang's neck playfully, then yelped quietly as she almost fell off the motorcycle.

"Hands always on, sis." Yang admonished, though she sounded more amused than anything else.

"O-okay," Ruby said. "And, yeah, I could run back home. But then I would get tiiired…"

"Oh, please. Like you're not always running around anyway," Yang rolled her eyes. "Just admit it. You need my company."

"Maybe. Or maybe I don't wanna leave you behind, all by yourself."

Yang smiled. Both reasons were true, probably. And she didn't mind driving Ruby back home after training, even if she had other stuff to do. Her sister was always her first priority, after all.

"So," Yang said, turning a corner. "Have you come up with your superhero name yet?"

"I had a few ideas," Ruby replied. "How about… the Red Reaper?"

"Oh God," Yang blanched. "You want people to think you're gonna take their souls or something?"

"Hey! I thought it sounded cool, 'cause of my scythe!" Ruby said. "…Future scythe, I mean."

"It sounds terrifying. You should come up with something more… family-friendly…"

Ruby pouted, but accepted her sister's reasoning nonetheless. She wanted to inspire people, not scare them. But it was a shame; she really liked that name.

They turned another corner and entered their street. As Yang slowed down, Ruby noticed an unfamiliar black car parked in front of their garage. "Uhm, did Dad invite someone over?"

"Huh?" Yang parked her motorcycle on the sidewalk and looked at the car. "Oh, wow. Maybe he's finally going on a date!"

"Eeew," Ruby stuck her tongue out. "I don't know, Yang. Wouldn't he have told us first?"

"He should. You know, I'm supposed to see my friends in half an hour, but I'm gonna go inside really quick just to see what's going on," Yang decided. "She better be one smoking hot lady…"

Ruby gulped, hoping her sister was right, if only for their father's safety. They climbed onto the porch and opened the unlocked front door, then entered the house curiously.

When they stepped into the living room, they were met with the sight of their father sitting on an armchair, and a blond woman with glasses on the sofa. Ruby squinted, thinking she had seen her before, but couldn't quite remember where and when…

Yang looked at the woman, then gestured for Ruby's attention and shook her head in disappointment. Apparently, the stranger did not fill her qualification for 'smoking hot lady'.

"Oh, hey, girls!" Taiyang called cheerfully. "I was hoping you would come home soon! We have an unexpected guest."

The stranger stood up and turned to them, smiling cordially. "Hello. I'm Melinda Jones. It's a pleasure to meet you girls."

"Hi!" Ruby raised a hand in a sheepish greeting, then shuffled closer to her father. "Who is she?" She whispered, not half as subtly as she intended.

"Melinda is an old acquaintance of mine. She used to work in the same circles as your mother," Taiyang explained. "Not anymore, though. She's a librarian now, and she's won many Best Librarian awards over the years! And, mind you, we're speaking _internationally_ here."

"Wow! Congratulations!" Ruby said. "I didn't even know they had those awards."

"They do," Taiyang nodded enthusiastically. "Isn't that right, Melinda?"

Melinda gave him a big smile, though Ruby did not fail to notice her right eye was twitching a bit. " _Of course_ , Taiyang. It's hard work, but it's worth it. And I always appreciate compliments. But please, don't _overdo_ it."

Taiyang just chuckled, as if he were a part of a big joke only he was aware of. Ruby looked at Melinda apologetically. Jeez, her father was weird sometimes.

"Moving on from that. Yang," Taiyang called. "Where did your manners go? You haven't said a word."

Ruby looked at her sister and almost jumped to the ceiling in embarrassment and horror. Yang's expression had changed from disappointed to one of pure amazement, as her eyes were fixed somewhere a little bit below Melinda's face.

"Y-Yang!" Ruby exclaimed. "U-uh, hurry up! Don't you have an, an appointment?!"

Yang blinked, then looked up. "Oh, sorry. Spaced out for a moment there, I guess!" She said in an absolutely innocent tone of voice. "Hi! I'm Yang, but you must know that already."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Yang," Melinda said, shaking her hand. "I must say, you are the spitting image of your mother. Except for the color of your hair. I suppose Taiyang had to contribute with something…"

"Oh. Thanks," Yang took a step back and looked at the front door. "I… have an important meeting with some friends. Sorry, I wish I could stay."

"That's okay. Perhaps we'll have another opportunity to talk another day," Melinda said. "Have fun."

Yang waved to her father and Ruby, then left the house. Ruby watched quietly as Taiyang aimed Melinda with a mild glare, and she just smirked in response.

"Uh," Ruby said awkwardly. "So… Why are you here, Miss Melinda? Not that I don't want you here. A-and I didn't say that to hide that I don't want you here. Oh, and that… that just sounded wrong. I mean…"

"It's just a meeting between friends," Taiyang said. As amusing as it was to watch her speech devolve into an absolute train wreck, there was a point where his fatherly duties got the best of him and he had to save her. "Actually, Melinda was very looking forward to meeting you."

"Me?" Ruby gulped. "Why?"

"Sit down, Ruby." Taiyang gestured to the sofa.

Ruby sat beside Melinda, going through all the possibilities of what might be happening inside her head.

If Melinda used to _work_ _in the same circles_ as her mother, as her father had said, did that mean… she was a superhero too? But she looked so… not like a superhero. And now she was a librarian? Maybe that was just a cover-up, though.

"I've always wanted to meet you, Ruby," Melinda said, interrupting her thoughts. "You see, when Summer and I worked together, there was one thing she would _never_ shut up about. Can you guess what that was?"

"She was one heck of a mother." Taiyang noted fondly.

"Indeed," Melinda agreed. "And that got us in big trouble sometimes. Her mind was always elsewhere after you were born," she leaned her head towards Ruby, looking into her eyes. "But… she always got us out, safe and sound. She was an amazing woman, in that right."

Ruby nodded mutely. Melinda definitely knew her mother had been a superhero, and Ruby had a feeling she was letting her know on purpose.

"Sadly, I never got to meet you before her unfortunate passing," Melinda said somberly. "But everything she said about you stuck with me, I suppose. And since I was in town this week…"

"For a Librarian conference!" Taiyang exclaimed. "Very busy affair. Very prestigious."

" _Yes_ ," Melinda spoke through gritted teeth. "Since I was in town, I decided to finally sate that curiosity and meet little Ruby Rose. Though I suppose you aren't that little anymore. How old are you? Fifteen?"

Ruby nodded. "Just finishing my junior year of high school."

"That's great," Melinda said. "And do you know what you want to be in the future?"

"I… uh…" Ruby looked at her father hesitantly. "I'm not sure…"

Taiyang leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees. "Ruby is very inspired by her mother," he said. "But, yes, she hasn't decided on anything yet. If you asked my opinion, I'd say she could do anything she put her mind to, though. Ruby is a very ingenious girl."

Ruby blushed and looked down at her lap. With all the stress and awkwardness that came from their disagreements about her mother, it was easy to forget how proud her father was of her. It only made her feel guiltier about keeping her secret from him.

"I'm sure she is," Melinda said. She was about to continue when her phone beeped in her pocket. She took it and glanced at the screen quickly, scowling. "I'm afraid I must go. Duty calls," Taiyang opened his mouth to spout some joke, but she silenced him with a glare. "Yes, Taiyang. Librarian duty."

His shoulders dropped in disappointment. He got up and opened the door for her.

"It was good seeing you after so long, Taiyang," Melinda said. "Perhaps I'll come by again sometime," she looked at Ruby. "There is still much I would like to discuss with you and your daughters."

"Okay!" Taiyang exclaimed cheerfully, gently pushing her out the door and closing it on her face. "See ya! Send gifts from the conference!"

"Dad!" Ruby punched him in the arm. "That was so rude!"

"True. What can I say?" He shrugged. "Librarians weird me out."

* * *

The Patch branch of the Vale National Bank was located, naturally, at the very center of downtown, in the busiest street in the city. All sorts of people crowded the place at all times of day, heading for or from work, making shopping trips, or just plain walking about. That made the bank a very, _very_ difficult facility to assault, and that was without taking into account all the defensive measure it had in place. But, in Roman Torchwick's sincerest opinion, that only made the exercise all the sweeter.

They came into the street on five vans loaded with their gang members, Torchwick personally driving the leading one. They parked on the opposite side of the street to the bank, drawing more than a few passersby's attention.

Torchwick looked at Perry in the back of his van, with his huge headphones and multiple laptops. His subordinate gave him a thumbs up signal, indicating he was ready.

"Okay, boys and girls," Torchwick said, climbing out of the van and tapping his earpiece. "Showtime."

In their total, they numbered exactly thirty, all armed with state of the art firearms – and in the case of Torchwick, some even more special stuff. They shuffled through the crowd, soliciting screams of alarm, which they gave no mind to.

Torchwick paused briefly before the glass doors of the bank, taking a moment to enjoy the calm before the storm, as they called. Then, he pushed the doors open violently and strut inside, his people following right after.

"Greetings!" He shouted gleefully. "We are here to make a withdrawal… of everything you have!"

The banksmen at their stations and the customers going on their business turned in disbelief of such a ridiculous entrance, then screeched as they realized all of them were armed and jumped to the floor.

"You've made a big mistake!" A brave banksman yelled, pushing a button on top of his desk, then cowering behind his counter.

The far back wall of the bank separated into panels that spun around, bringing forth a dozen metallic soldiers. The robots' visors shone blue as they activated, and as one, they marched until they were in front of the gang members, pointing rifles at their faces.

"Oh, how foolish of me!" Torchwick shouted in a tone of mock desperation. "How could I forget the robots _again_! I always forget about the robots!"

He casually tapped the tiny button hidden on his collar, and felt his torso heat up as the device hidden beneath his trench coat turned on.

The Vale Nation Bank had recently installed technology that blocked out all foreign signals from the outside, removing the threat of long-distance hacking of their security… supposedly. Lots of money and influence had landed Torchwick even more innovative technology that nullified that problem. His device was now directly connected to Perry's terminal outside, and using that link, his henchman could do all the mischief he wanted. Torchwick did not understand the science, but damn, he loved it!

"Hey! Wanna know the one thing that's less useful than your bank's robot guards?" He asked loudly.

"You're crazy!" A random woman yelled.

"I take offense to that," Torchwick said. "You shall know the answer… now…"

His timing was impeccable, as always. The blue in the robots' visors faded, and they hung their heads low and crumbled to the ground.

" _Nothing_ is less useful than your bank's robot guards!" Torchwick bowed. "Thank you, thank you. I'll be in town for a few more hours then scram."

He looked to his henchmen and snapped his fingers. "Half of you stay here. Classic hostage procedure, you know the drill. The other half is with me," he turned to the banksmen's counters and raised his arms indignantly. "Well? Who's gonna be a gentleperson and lead us to your vault? Benefits are: _not_ having a gun aimed at your head."

A few tense seconds passed, then an employee came from behind the counters, his arms above his head. "I-I'll do it. P-please, be d-decent. I have a family."

"We all have family, sir. Well, most of us," Torchwick shrugged. "Come on. Lead the way. We don't have all day!"

Hesitantly, the man walked them further into the bank, while the people at the entrance were put on their knees and had guns aimed at their heads.

* * *

" _But it is undeniable that crime in Patch is at an all-time low. It is fact, it is documented. That is the truth._ "

" _No one doubts the veracity of these facts, but you cannot deny that, after the rumors of Roman Torchwick's arrival were confirmed, it is hard to understand how that can be possible. Have you any explanation, sir, or at least a theory?_ "

" _Well, there are various well-documented reasons for why the crime rate of a city such as Patch may go down. Such fine factors as-_ "

"Hey, Dad," Ruby said, leaning on the living room sofa from behind. "What are you watching?"

"The news. Horrible, I know," Taiyang replied, munching on a cupcake. "It's not depressing, for once. Apparently, crime is at an all-time low here."

Ruby did her best to contain her pride, but she couldn't help but smile a little. Maybe she was being a little arrogant, but could the beginning of her superheroic activities and the decline in crime really be a mere coincidence?

" _And what would you say, sir, about the emergence of this new superpowered vigilante in Patch? Is she only a rumor? If not, could she be the reason for this phenomenon?_ "

"Oh, please," Taiyang scoffed. "Is this actual news, or part of one of those viral movie campaigns again?"

Ruby laughed nervously. "Probably the latter, Dad. Haha…"

" _-but whatever the origin of these rumors is, no, I do not believe them to be true. The decline of crime in Patch can be explained solely by the analysis of-_ "

" _Excuse me, sir. I am afraid this interview must be cut short, as an emergency situation is now taking place downtown. The Vale National Bank is under attack by none other than Roman Torchwick and his gang!_ "

The channel changed to a live feed of the front of the bank. Gunmen could be seen through the glass walls, and surrounding the establishment were vehicles from both the police department and Beacon.

"Well that didn't last long," Taiyang moped. "Here comes usual news. You wanna watch, Ruby?"

" _It seems that the two organizations have put their differences aside and are working together to solve this tricky situation. A minimum of thirteen hostages have been counted, but it is possible that-_ "

"Ruby?" Taiyang looked behind him just in time to see the front door slamming shut. "Jeez. Kids these days, so obsessed with tragedy they need to watch it from up close… Now where's my popcorn?"

* * *

"Keep your head down, old man. Unless you wanna get dead."

"I-I'm sorry. Please. I just-"

"Yeah, yeah. Family. Blah blah. Just stay down and quiet."

The cars were blaring nonstop outside, and they could see several police officers and Beacon agents keeping careful aim. But they wouldn't dare make a move yet, not with so many hostages at risk.

As usual, the Boss had devised an infallible plan. Disable the bank's estimated security, get all the riches they could carry, then get out safely by using the hostages as leverage. There was no way this could go wrong.

The front doors opened and shut in a split second, and everyone inside felt a rush of wind hit them.

"What the heck?" Someone said quietly.

Suddenly, one of the gang members fell on his back, his rifle mysteriously out of his hands. Before anyone could make sense of it, two more suffered the same fate.

"Oh, hell no," a henchman grunted. "Not her again," he began to apply pressure on his trigger. "Just you try me, you little-"

He screamed as his rifle was yanked from his hands, so brusquely he almost collapsed. In a matter of seconds, all the gang members were standing weaponless.

The girl appeared in the very center of the room, clad in her red and black uniform, and unceremoniously dropped the firearms on the floor. She raised her chin and swept her gaze across the various people in the room.

"Alright. I'm gonna make a request, but in my little experience as a superhero, I'm fairly sure what answer I'm gonna get. Here it goes anyway," she narrowed her eyes. "Give up and bring me to your leader."

The gang members looked at each other, then charged at her at once. Ruby sighed and spread her feet, raising her fists in front of her.

"One day, that's gonna work."


	5. Bad guys, bad times

Superhero movies always made defeating waves of bad guys look so easy, but as Ruby had already learned since she had discovered her powers, those really weren't the most trustworthy guides for reality – even her reality, in which she wore a cape and ran faster than a car.

Catching a punch? Her hand hurt a lot every time. Taking out one bad guy at a time? Nope, they were always quite eager to gang up on her. Flashy combat pirouettes, spins, and all that? It was embarrassing to imagine how clumsy she must look from an outsider's perspective.

Nonetheless, Ruby kept up the fight, keeping in mind what her sister had taught her. She'd have to thank Yang later, because she was pretty sure she would be in a really bad shape right now if it weren't for her training.

More than half of the bandits were already down, but their buddies didn't look like they were about to give up anytime soon. Ruby backed up a bit, her eyes wandering quickly over the cowering clientele of the bank to make sure they were all okay, then brought her fists in front of her again.

"Bring it on." She said, silver eyes sparking with determination.

They charged her as one, aiming punches and kicks, but Ruby dropped her stance and dashed to the side, then kicked against a wall and boosted herself towards them, tackling one to the ground. She kneeled on top of him and looked up, now surrounded.

Not waiting for them to take advantage of her position, Ruby jumped to her feet and, in the same motion, uppercut a bandit, knocking him out. She spun around and punched blindly, luckily making contact with another's chest and taking him out too.

Before she could try anything else, a bandit behind her wrapped his arms around her armpits and pulled her back against him. Ruby kicked and tried to break free, but he was too strong – or, more likely, she was too weak.

A female bandit stepped in front of her and scoffed. "Without her weird powers, she's just a defenseless little girl," she said. "A little girl who needs to be taught a lesson!"

She punched Ruby in the cheek, making her head snap to the right. The attack wasn't powerful enough to actually hurt her, but it stung a lot and left her stunned. Ruby let out a shaky breath, then flinched as another punch snapped her head to the left.

_Never panic_ , she remembered Yang saying. _Panic, lose focus, and you're done._

Ruby steeled herself, and when the next punch came, this time aimed directly at her nose, she let its weight drive her back without resisting. The impact of the blow sent the man holding her stumbling back, yelling angrily at his partner. Ruby pulled her head forward, then back, hitting him straight in the forehead and sending him sprawling to the ground.

Still falling, Ruby trust her legs out, kicking her former assailant's belly and making her squirm in pain. She spun and braced herself on the ground, then rose back to her feet.

The only remaining bandit had gone back to the guns she had left on the ground and picked one up, and was now aiming it at her. "Move, and I'll shoot!"

Ruby sighed, relieved that he was aiming at her, and not a bystander. She wasn't sure she was could run faster than a bullet, much less catch one, and she wasn't eager to find out in practice either.

She ran forward at full speed and stopped right in front of him, all in a mere second. He continued to point his gun where she had been standing for a while, then looked down in surprise.

"Heya." Ruby grinned, then knocked him out with a well-aimed punch to the face.

She beat her hands together and looked around. Noticing how everyone was staring at her, she blushed and lowered her eyes to the ground.

"Uh…" She mumbled, dragging the sole of her shoes against the floor. "So, are there any other bad guys still around, or what…?" One of the bank's customers raised a shaky hand and pointed to a hallway at the back of the room. "Okay thanks bye!"

Ruby ran off, leaving behind a trail of petals and a group of very confused people.

* * *

Glynda paced in the street in front of the bank, surrounded by a dozen police and Beacon cars sounding their sirens nonstop. They had set a perimeter around the area to keep civilians out of danger, but that hadn't driven them away. People were eager to see how the situation would end, either out of compassion and hope, or morbid curiosity.

She should have seen this coming. Assaulting the biggest bank in town in broad daylight was a mad plan, something no sensible criminal would try, but that description did not fit Torchwick, not remotely. There was a method to his madness – he got cowered, went for the highest stakes objective in town, then fled the scene. That's how it always went.

Glynda would have predicted this, but she had allowed herself to be distracted by other concerns. Concerns that did not necessarily need her attention, much as she loathed to admit.

"Commander?" One of her agents tapped her in the shoulder to call her attention. "Look. Is he freeing the hostages?"

Glynda stopped and turned to look at the bank. The front doors were opened, and people were running out by the dozen. They were terrified, that much was clear to her, but there was also a degree of disbelief in their faces.

The local police received the hostages and directed the ones in need to the paramedics. After a few minutes, the chief parted from his men and walked to Glynda. "You're not gonna believe this, Commander. Or you will. Don't know exactly what you Beacon folks are used to…"

Glynda held back a sigh. This really wasn't the time for them to be undermining each other's organizations, much as she would like to point out how useless the police seemed to be right now. "What is it?"

"Well, seems like these people were rescued by a teenage girl wearing a cape and an eye mask," the chief tilted his head appropriately. "Also, she ran like – and I quote – _a lightning bolt_ , and – I quote again – _tanked punches like she was made of metal_."

"So, the vigilante," Glynda said, not appearing fazed. "That's interesting. But do we have word about what's going on inside that place now?"

The chief leered at her, as if irritated by her dismissive attitude. "Word is Torchwick went down to the bank's vault with more of his people and a hostage – and he probably took more along the way," he said. "We are planning to go in now. If you could lend some help, we would-"

"Don't," Glynda interrupted harshly, lifting a hand. "You go in there, innocents will end up dead. Get more information from the hostages, figure out if there any other ways in and out of the bank that Torchwick could use to escape. Then set up a perimeter to stop him if he tries."

"I don't take orders-"

"You do now, if you want to keep your job," Glynda leaned towards him, staring him straight in the eyes. "Understood?"

The chief looked at her dubiously for a moment, then gulped and nodded. Grudgingly, he returned to his coworkers.

Glynda looked at the bank and shook her head. If she had had one more day to talk to her, the girl would be prepared for this, but that wasn't how things went. And Glynda couldn't interfere now, not without putting a lot more people at risk.

Today, she found out if the girl was truly her mother's daughter.

* * *

Why was elevator music a thing? Did anyone like it, even in normal circumstances? Ruby asked herself those questions because, as she descended deeper down into the unknown, in route to confront armed terrorists and the most feared gang leader in the world, she found the quiet soothing tune very, very grating to her ears. It only made her more anxious about what was to come.

Finally, the elevator stopped at the lowest level and opened its door. Ruby took a deep breath, lifted her chin, and stepped out into an incredibly large room, its steel walls displaying hundreds of safes from bottom to the very top, where someone would need to use some tall stairs to reach.

At the very back of the room was a safe that was disproportionally bigger than the others, occupying the whole extent of the wall. It was kept shut by three valve-like mechanisms, like those in submarines Ruby had seen in movies, and a digital lock to boot.

In front of the safe were Torchwick and his remaining men. They were keeping a half dozen hostages kneeled on the ground at gunpoint, while a couple of the criminals worked on getting the vault open.

Ruby hesitated for a moment. Was she ready for this? Taking on a crime lord that had evaded even Beacon, the strongest law enforcement organization in the world? If she made a single mistake, people could end up dead.

_I want to use these powers to help people. To save those who can't save themselves, and stop bad people from doing bad things to them._

It didn't matter. She was a hero now. And heroes never backed down.

"Hey!" She yelled, walking forward.

Torchwick turned to look at her and smiled. "Oh, my! I'm getting to meet you, after all!" He exclaimed gleefully, spinning his canes in his hands. "I wanted to, after I learned of how _impressive_ you are, I really did, but I'm not in this job to socialize, now am I? But thank you for coming here…" He trailed off. "Hm. What's your name again? Excuse me, your _superhero name_ , of course! Wouldn't want me to come after your loved ones, huh?"

Ruby stopped walking a few meters in front of him and crossed her arms. Her eyes wandered over the hostages and the criminals keeping them in place. Six people to save, eight guns to confiscate. Easy, except she was the center of attentions right now. She had to distract Torchwick, get him to drop his guard somehow.

"My name…" she said. "Is go duck yourself!"

Torchwick blinked. "…What?"

"I said… go duck yourself!" Ruby exclaimed, blushing. First priority when she got back home: find soap and wash her tongue.

Torchwick stared at her in bewilderment, then leaned back and started laughing. "Oh, no. No no no. _This_ is who all you morons were afraid of?" He wiped a tear from his eye, looking at his henchmen accusatorily. They all looked very embarrassed. "She's just a-"

The sound of guns falling to the ground interrupted him, and when Torchwick looked again, his underlings' weapons were at the other end of the room, near the elevator. Ruby reappeared in front of him, blowing a petal from the tip of her nose.

"Oh," Torchwick said, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "I see how things are. You think you're so clever, huh?" He looked over his shoulder to the men working on getting the vault open. "All you imbeciles, help them. Get everything you can. Then use that secret exit."

As his underlings all hurried to obey his orders, Torchwick cracked his neck and stepped forward, leaning his cane on his shoulder.

"Come at me, Red."

Ruby ran at him, swinging a fist preemptively, but when she was a few centimeters from hitting him, her hand and body slammed into something invisible, and she bounced back, barely keeping her balance.

Torchwick grinned and gestured with his free hands. A green outline appeared around him. "You like my personal force field, Red?" He asked. "Top of the line. Went through some hard times in Mistral to get my hands on this beauty."

"That's cheating!" Ruby yelled.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Torchwick rolled his eyes. "Guess I should have let you take me out with your super speed."

Ruby grunted angrily, dashing at him again. This time, as she was about to meet with his force field, she stopped briefly and ran around him at normal speed, then punched towards the back of his neck… only to be bounced back again.

"Oh, come on!" She complained, shaking her aching hand. "It covers all sides?"

"Of course it does, you silly girl," Torchwick said. "This isn't a videogame, you know?"

"Don't tell me what's a videogame and what isn't!" Ruby yelled angrily. She started to throw punches at him again, using her super speed to fit in dozens of them per second, but they kept bouncing back harmlessly.

"You know what, maybe you're right," Torchwick sighed as she finally backed away dejectedly. "This feels like cheating. Let me give you a fighting chance."

He tapped something in his belt, and the force field fizzled out. Suspicious, Ruby tiptoed towards him and waved her hand at the space it had been occupying previously. He wasn't lying, much to her happiness.

Grinning mischievously, she stepped towards him, aiming a kick at his stomach… but Torchwick simply raised his hand and grabbed her by the ankle.

"You know I didn't _always_ have technology, right? A man has to earn his place with his own sweat and blood first before he gets the fancy toys," he said. "Unfortunately for you, Red, I didn't get lazy playing with my miniature trains."

He slammed her to the ground. Ruby yelled, surprised by how painful the crash was. Were her powers not working properly, or as he just _that_ strong?

But this wasn't the time to ask questions. As soon as she got her bearings back, Ruby spun on the ground and swung a kick at his legs, but he jumped over it and stepped on her ankle.

Ruby yelled painfully, then pulled back, managing to escape from his hold. She stood up and raised her fists in preparation, but she couldn't make a move before he closed in on her, swinging his cane towards her head.

She crossed her arms and blocked the attack. The impact made her whole body shake, and her arms definitely did not approve of her defense. Grunting, Ruby lowered them and tried to tackle Torchwick, but he stepped aside, letting her pass, then struck her lower back with his cane, knocking her to the ground.

Ruby got on all fours, panting. This wasn't good. This wasn't good _at all_. She was getting her ass kicked, despite all the training Yang had given her. The first true fight in her career, and she was failing hopelessly. Maybe she wasn't meant to be a superhero after all.

"Don't feel bad, Red," Torchwick said, tapping her shoulders with his cane playfully. "I am Remnant's most infamous man, after all. And you… you are just a schoolgirl."

Ruby closed her fists and raised her head. "No… I'm not…"

"What? You're a dropout?"

"I'm a Rose!"

In the blink of an eye, she got up and spun around, scoring a perfect uppercut on his chin that sent him stumbling back. Torchwick shouted furiously, blood dripping out of the corner of his mouth and splattering on the floor.

"Now you've done it!" He raised his cane, pointing its blunt end at her.

Ruby stared in confusion, until he pressed a button and the end of the cane popped off, and she saw a faint red glow coming from the opening it left.

"Say goodbye, Red!"

* * *

"Quickly! Circle around the block! They're getting out from the back!"

Glynda laid her finger off her earpiece and leaned on the hood of her car, pointing her pistol at the bank's backdoor. According to the manager, it was only used as an emergency exit, and it was impossible to enter the bank from it. Glynda wondered how no one had thought this could get abused by miscreants, but this was far from the worst case of incompetence she had encountered in her line of work.

"Be careful," she said to her agents as they took their positions near her. "Don't take a shot unless I say so. Roman Torchwick is a smart man, he will take hostages with him for insurance."

"Yes, ma'am." They all responded in unison, readying their firearms.

"What about the vigilante?" An agent asked. "Do we shoot her?"

"No," Glynda paused. "She's on our side."

_Was_ on our side, Glynda corrected mentally. She had received plenty of reports about the explosion inside the bank. That, coupled with the fact that Torchwick was staging an escape, could only mean one thing.

"Forgive me, Rose." She muttered to herself, then shook her head and focused on the opening backdoor…

* * *

Ruby opened her eyes, then immediately shut them again. Every part of her body was screaming in pain, and there was a queasy feeling on her stomach she couldn't fight down.

Explosions hurt. They hurt like hell.

Groaning, she sat up and opened her eyes. The room was empty now, the vault door opened. Gold bars and jewels were scattered on the ground, along with important-looking documents and other artifacts. She guessed Torchwick had succeeded, after all…

Or so far. This wasn't the end. She wasn't down yet.

She got up and took another look around, stopping when she saw an opening on the left wall where there were safes before. A false wall. Cool. And very convenient for an escaping crime lord.

Ruby walked up to the dark opening and looked up. It was an elevator shaft, and right now, the elevator was right at the top, far from her reach. Ruby looked to the side, identifying the buttons to call it down, but when she tapped them, they were unresponsive.

"Okay, sure. Kick a girl when she's down, will you," Ruby sighed, looking at the stairs on the wall that could lead her up. "Let's do it the hard way, then."

She jumped and grabbed onto the handles, then started to climb up as fast as she could. Her stressed body did not appreciate it, but it wasn't like she had a choice. Lives were on the line!

In a couple of minutes, her head bonked on the bottom of the elevator. Ruby fumbled with her hands until she found a handlebar and pushed, opening a door. She climbed up into the elevator and sat for a while, catching her breath, then got up.

She stepped out into a small, featureless room, which had only a single door to lead out of it. At the other side, Ruby could hear the blaring of sirens and voices shouting threats and demands, along with cries of terror and anger.

Ruby huffed angrily, then pulled the door open. The brightness of daylight blinded her for a moment, then she saw Torchwick and his men with their backs to her, holding the hostages close to them. Cars surrounded them from every direction, with policemen and Beacon agents aiming their guns from behind them.

Not wasting a second, Ruby got to work, activating her speed and ripping the guns away from the criminals, then tossed them in the good guys' direction. She stood between the two groups, turned towards Torchwick, her cape billowing on the wind.

"Red. You just don't give up, do you?" Torchwick glared at her. "What's it gonna take to get you out of my hair?"

"Stand down," she said seriously. "This is your last chance."

"Wrong. This is far from my last chance," he lifted his cane. "As for you…"

Ruby dashed to the side, the explosive shot trailing through the space she had been occupying a moment before and landing on a police car. The explosion sent the vehicle flying and spinning through the air, but luckily it did not squash anyone when it fell to the ground.

"FIRE!" The police chief screamed.

"Don't!" A female voice yelled in response, but it was too late.

Ruby jumped and pressed herself to the ground, bullets flying above her head, taking out Torchwick's underlings and, to her dismay, the hostages too. The crime lord, on the other hand, activated his force field, which deflected every bullet, and took aim at the police this time.

"No!" Ruby shouted, dashing at him. She stopped in front of him and kicked with all her might. The force field flickered, its strength failing after protecting him from so much at the same time.

"Oh, for fu-" He started to say, but Ruby stepped forward and punched him in the face, knocking him down.

"What about the infamous crime lord now, huh?!" Ruby stuck her tongue out. "Taken out by a school-"

She gasped, feeling a piercing pain on her shoulder. She looked down and saw blood dripping down onto her uniform, much to her horror.

"Stop it! You took them all out, you idiots! _Stop_!"

Ruby stumbled, the world spinning and doubling around her. She heard footsteps nearing her, then a hand fell on her shoulder, and a woman started to speak to her.

Ruby shook her head and slapped the hand off of her, stumbling away. The woman pursued her, but Ruby steeled herself and took off.

* * *

Taiyang paced in front of his television, gripping his hair in a panic. It couldn't be. He was jumping to conclusions. It wasn't her, it wasn't her.

" _And while we wait for more information on the aftermath of the shootout, let's talk more about this new costumed vigilante_ ," the reporter on air said. " _While her identity is still unknown, our men at the scene were able to take a more detailed picture of her._ "

The photo popped up at the corner of the screen, and Taiyang groaned as he looked at it. Black and red hair. Silver eyes. That innocent, yet determined expression.

It was her. His little girl was a superhero.

* * *

Ruby tackled the front door open and stumbled to the kitchen, where she leaned against the counter and took a deep breath. She turned on the water on the sink and splashed it on her face, then looked down at her shoulder and winced.

What was she supposed to do now? She thought she was immune to bullets – she had no idea how to take care of an injury like this. She wasn't even sure she would be able to, with how much it hurt. Even now, she was having to hold back from bursting to tears because of the pain.

"Okay. Calm down, Ruby," she took a deep breath. "What do we do when something goes wrong and we need help?" She closed her eyes. "Call Yang."

She reached for her belt, then remembered she had never taken her phone before rushing out of the house to stop the heist. She spun around and took a step towards the doorway, only to bop her head against a chest.

Ruby slowly looked up and locked eyes with her father. She gulped, wishing her superpower was shrinking or becoming invisible. Anything to get her out of here.

No, she told herself. She wasn't going to run from this. It would have happened eventually, the only problem now being that she hadn't been prepared for it. But that didn't mean she wouldn't face it.

She waited for him to start yelling, but to her surprise, he reached around her to grab a towel on the sink, handed it to her, then pointed at the doorway. "Living room. Couch. Now."

Ruby lowered her head obediently and walked to the living room, then sat down on the couch. She gripped the towel in a vice grip, scared out of her mind, and gently pushed it against her shoulder.

A couple minutes later, her father returned with a first aid kit in his hands. "Take off your…" he looked at her and shook his head. "Whatever that is."

Ruby nodded mutely and took her shirt and cape, keeping only her bra on. She refused to look at the wound, her stomach doing turns just at the smell of blood.

Taiyang put a chair in front of her and sat down, then opened the kit. "The bullet passed right through, so at least I won't have to get it out too," he muttered. "Here's what's gonna happen. I'm going to clean up both sides with this…" he held up a bottle of something she assumed was alcohol. "then stitch them shut. It's going to hurt a lot, but you can't move, okay? Tell me if you need me to stop."

"O-okay."

Taiyang took a deep breath, then opened the bottle and leaned in. Carefully, he dripped the liquid down on the front side of the wound. Ruby screamed and jumped, tears clouding her vision, but he pushed her back down gently.

"It's okay. You'll get used to it," he said. "Want me to turn on the TV?"

"N-no, I'm o-okay. Just… get it over with…"

Taiyang poured a little more liquid, then turned her halfway around and did the same on the other side. Ruby closed her eyes and buried her fingers on her thighs, leaving ugly red marks on them.

"Alright," Taiyang said. "Here comes the stitching part. It's gonna hurt, but I promise I'll be quick. Okay?"

"Mmm."

"Ruby."

"Okay…"

The front door opened, and they heard someone running to the them. Yang skidded to a halt beside the couch, her eyes widening when she saw Ruby.

"I…I saw on the news," she said. "Is… is Ruby going to be okay?"

"Oh, goodie. You're in on the party," Taiyang sighed. "Yes, she is going to be okay. It's good you're here. Hold her in place, I'm going to stitch her up."

Yang gulped, then sat down beside her sister and held her by her good shoulder and her waist. Taiyang approached with a needle and thread.

"Oh, God…" Ruby turned her head and laid it on Yang's shoulder. "Please let me faint… Please let me faint…"

* * *

"So. Was it worth it, jackass?"

Torchwick looked up at the ceiling of the van, counting absently-minded how many lines it had across its length. The ride was bumpy, and he had had to restart several times already, but it wasn't as if he had anything else to do.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" The agent sitting in front of him kicked him in the leg. "I made you a question."

Torchwick lowered his head to glared mildly at him. "I lost count again," he said bitterly, then sighed. "Fine. What was your question?"

"Was it worth it?" The agent asked. "Pulling that stunt? You lost all your men, didn't get any money, got defeat by a caped girl half your age, and now you're going to prison for life."

"Ah, my friend. You've got it all wrong. Well, not the part about the girl, that was _half_ right," Torchwick said. "I didn't lose all my men. Those back there? Those weren't a tenth of the total. And the money? My time on Patch was lucrative enough. The heist was just a bonus."

"Humph. None of that matters," the agent smiled. "Money and followers are useless to a man behind bars."

"True," the crime lord nodded. "But didn't I say you had it all wrong?"

The agent stared at him in confusion.

The van came to a screeching halt. The agent looked at the doors at the back, shot him a suspicious glance – to which he answered with a shrug -, then approached them slowly…

Before he could get to them, the doors opened, revealing a petite Beacon agent with pink and brown eyes. She saluted to his guard, then winked at him.

"Hey, why is the car stopped?" His guard asked. "We aren't out of-"

He fell to the ground suddenly, blood from his cut open throat.

"Nice work, Neo!" Torchwick grinned, watching her hide her knife in her sleeve again. "Now how about you get me out of these cuffs, and then we drive out of this dirt hole?"

Neo nodded enthusiastically, flashing him the keys. She was always one step ahead, that one. She unlocked his cuffs and stepped back as he jumped out of the van and flexed his arms above his head.

"Got any ideas for our next adventure, Neo?"

She shook her head, then pointed to the back of the van. His cane was resting there, ready for the taking.

"Much appreciated, Neo. I have an idea," Torchwick grabbed his cane and spun it once, smiling deviously. "What do you think about paying Atlas a little visit, eh?"

* * *

Ruby woke up in her bed, covered by two layers of blankets. The lamp on her nightstand was turned on at its lowest setting, giving her enough light to see the upper end of her uniform hanging on the knobs of her wardrobe, beaten and bloodied. It was disturbing to think she had been wearing that not long ago.

Sitting up was hard, with her right arm protesting the effort it took to support her weight, but eventually she did it. Hesitantly, she drew her blankets aside and took a look at her naked shoulder. It was wrapped in bandage, and below that, she could feel the irritating feeling of her new stitches.

Now that she was still and rested, the wound actually did not hurt that badly. It was like any other injury she had suffered before her superhero awakening, an ache that was always there, but if she thought of something else, the feeling faded away considerably. Maybe that was normal – or maybe she had faster healing, on top of everything else.

Her father would know the answer, but she didn't think it was right to ask him right now.

Straining her ears, she picked up on two voices downstairs – her father and sister. She couldn't make out the words, but she could tell they were arguing, and pretty heatedly at that. As if getting home with a surprise gunshot wound to show her father wasn't enough, this made her feel even guiltier.

Slowly, Ruby turned and put her feet on the floor, then stood up. She fished for a more-or-less clean shirt on her messy stack of clothes on the ground, put it on, then opened her door and made for the stairs.

"-that's her choice! You can't stop her from pursuing the path she wants, not after everything you taught us while we were kids!"

"When I said you should make your own paths, I always, _always_ made the exception for… _that_! Whatever your sister thinks she's accomplishing, it's going to get her killed!"

"Well, maybe if you had been more open with her – with _us_ – maybe she would have a more informed decision! But it's too late for that, isn't it? It's your fault she had to turn to _me_ when she found out about her powers-"

"Oh, so now I'm to blame for-"

"-and it's your fault I couldn't help her like she needed because I don't have a single clue about who half of my family actually are!"

"Do _not_ turn this into a discussion about Raven."

"What, are you feeling guilty about something? Maybe she was a superhero too. Ooh, or a super _villain_! What a bad influence for your little girls!"

Ruby hurried down the last steps and walked into the living room, finding the two standing in the middle of it, their faces red with anger. As soon as she appeared, they turned to face her.

Yang looked down guiltily, then approached Ruby and hugged her. "How are you feeling?"

"My shoulder's fine." Ruby muttered.

"That's good," Yang took a step back. "Hey, you don't need to choose a superhero name anymore. It's been chosen for you."

"…What?" Ruby frowned.

"Apparently you've been gathering a following online. How we missed it… I have no idea," Yang flashed her a small smile. "Nice work out there today, Red Bolt."

"Red Bolt," Ruby repeated. "That's… kinda nice."

"Better than Red Reaper, that's for sure." Yang turned to look at their father, then sighed and headed out of the living room towards the garage. "I need to go out. Call me if you need my help."

"Don't go crimefighting." Taiyang said dryly.

Yang waved an offensive gesture at him, then left. They heard the sound of her motorcycle turning on, then the garage door opening and her driving away.

Taiyang looked at Ruby for a while, waiting for her to say something, but she just kept her eyes glued on her feet. Eventually, he sat down in the couch and picked up the TV remote.

"You're grounded for a month." He said, turning the TV on and flicking through the channels intently.

Ruby stared at him in silence for a while. "…Is that all you have to say?" She asked.

"Yes. You didn't say anything. That's because we've gone through this time and again, and you know that," Taiyang shrugged. "I don't need to repeat myself again if you understand it already."

"I mean, you could at least explain to me what I am. And what Mom was." Ruby said, a little anger seeping into her voice.

"Your mother had superpowers. She did heroic things because she felt that was the right thing to do. It got her killed," he turned to look at her. "You take after her."

"Okay," Ruby frowned. "Is that all?"

"It's all you need to know," Taiyang said. "Go lie down. You got shot, sweetheart."

Ruby stayed still for a while, then turned around abruptly and ran to her room, slamming the door behind her.

She looked around her room in a helpless rage. He couldn't stop her, not even what had happened today. If anything, her surviving proved she _should_ continue being a superhero.

And what if her mother died doing the same thing? That didn't mean the same would happen to her. She would learn. She would become even better than Summer ever was.

"Grounded for thirty days," she muttered to herself, looking at her bloody uniform. "Grounded _my butt_."

She almost ripped her shirt by taking it off too fast, then put her uniform on and picked up her mask at her nightstand, putting it on too. Then she went to the window and, taking special care to make as much noise as possible, opened it and jumped out, landing on the courtyard.

* * *

_To put it succinctly, today was a disaster._

Glynda stared at the screen for a few seconds, then confirmed the end of her report and send it on its merry way to the Director's inbox. Knowing him, the news wouldn't upset him too much – not to the point of him getting angry or, God forbid, disappointed at her – but it still hurt to have to type and send them to him.

The deaths of the hostages on the heist because of the local police's stupidity. Roman Torchwick's escape under her supervision. And the Rose girl getting injured too, which could result in a myriad of consequences, few of which she considered favorable.

Yes. Her report had been spot-on. Nothing could make today worse.

Her phone began to ring. Glynda sighed, realizing she had just jinxed herself.

"Yes?" She greeted, discarding the formality with which she would usually address her subordinates.

"Ma'am. Sir. You appointed me to monitor those energy surges?" The agent at the other end of the line said. "Well, I'm picking them up now. Except there's a new type along with it…?"

Glynda sat straighter in her chair and grabbed her tablet from her desk. "Wait a moment. I want to see this with my own eyes."

The program took a minute to boot up, but when it did and she had the city grid in front of her, she immediately saw Rose's signature energy running across a neighborhood not too far from the Beacon headquarter.

"I see nothing but the usual." Glynda stated.

"Wait a little, Commander," the agent said. "The new anomaly is much more inconstant in its nature, but it is tracking the old one very closely. Perhaps the source is jumping around, or it's a byproduct of what we were already investigating…"

"I see it."

Glynda put her phone down and pinched her temple. It was true. Behind Rose's white signature, a red point blinked in and out of existence for a few seconds, then disappeared as abruptly as it had appeared.

She did not bother to talk to the agent again before ending the call. Wordlessly and with great fervor, she got up and fixed her uniform, then fished for her keys on her pocket.

Glynda walked to the locker at the back of the strategy room and unlocked it, then took the biggest gun there and checked for ammo. Satisfied, she locked it back up and walked away with a fierce expression on her face.

* * *

Ruby came to an immediate halt, finally spotting a crime after running around for almost an hour. Two grown women, pointing knives at a younger one, making gestures towards her purse and clothes.

"Hey!" Ruby yelled, marching towards them. "Stop!"

The women turned in surprise, the criminals cursing while their victim smiled in relief. Ruby would have been happy about that, if her shoulder weren't hurting so bad and her feelings weren't such a mess.

"This is when I try to talk some sense into you," she said. "But whatever."

Ruby sprinted, landing a punch at one of the criminal's head with her good arm, knocking her out instantly. While the other turned, preparing her knife, Ruby kicked her in the knee, then struck her on the top of her head with both hands, leaving her in the same state as her partner.

Ruby winced, her shoulder hurting more now that she had moved it in combat.

"Oh. My. God," the innocent girl said, taking deep breaths between each word. "You're her. The one who took down Torchwick! Red Bolt!"

"Hmm. Yeah," Ruby nodded slightly. "That's me."

"Huh. My friends told me you were more cheerful than this."

"I got shot today. Then my father found out I'm a superhero."

"Oh, yeah, that must have sucked. Hey, maybe we could-"

The girl stopped talking, her eyes widening as she looked over Ruby's shoulder. She let out a shriek, then turned around and ran for dear life. Ruby blinked, wondering what she had done to solicit that reaction.

Suddenly, Ruby found herself being flung forward as someone hit her in the back with a full body tackle – or so she assumed, because that was one hell of a throw.

Ruby rolled on the ground and stood up. She shook her head and looked up, then froze. A… _thing_ , was standing there. A wolf, it looked like, except it was standing on its hind legs like a human and it was so black it looked like it was made of shadows. Its red eyes were focused intently on her, like a prey eyeing its next feast.

"I-I… uh… w-what…" Ruby backed away slowly, but the thing approached at the same pace. "Please, stay away."

The wolf roared, then leaped at her, displaying its sharp claws. Ruby whimpered and ducked below it, barely saving herself from being beheaded. Acting on new instincts, Ruby spun and threw the hardest punch she could muster, but the creature took it in the face without as much as flinching.

"Okay. That's not nice," Ruby said nervously. "Bye bye!" She turned to run, but was confronted with the sight of an identical beast just behind her. "No!'

The two wolves advanced on her from front and back, and in her terror, Ruby could do nothing but watch as they got closer.

Just as they were about to attack, a car with a Beacon logo on its side came racing around the corner of the street, stopping right beside her. The passenger's window rolled down, and in the driver's seat, Ruby saw… Melinda the librarian?

Okay, maybe that wasn't the weirdest thing she had seen tonight, but that was pretty unexpected.

Melinda leaned towards the open window and raised a scary-looking rifle. She pulled the trigger, and an energy blast struck one of the wolves' head, vaporizing it. The creature's body fell to the ground, then turned to smoke. The librarian shifted her aim quickly and disposed of the other monster in the same manner.

"Get in!" Melinda yelled, opening the passenger's door and going back to her seat.

Ruby did not protest, practically jumping inside the car and slamming the door shut. As Melinda stomped on the accelerator, Ruby turned to look at her in complete and utter bewilderment.

"You… how did you do that?!" She exclaimed. "I thought you were a librarian!"

"That's the insipid cover your father came up with," Melinda scoffed, turning a corner at full speed. "My real name is Glynda Goodwitch. I'm Beacon's Commander – second in command only to the Director himself."

"Okay. That makes a lot more sense," Ruby stuck her head out of the window and looked back. "What were those things?"

"Those, Ruby Rose," Glynda said, shaking her head slowly. "Were creatures of Grimm."


	6. This is your world now

"...Creatures of _what_?"

Glynda looked over at Ruby and sighed, then turned her eyes back to the road. She had given the explanation so many times over the years, it had become laughably easy. She had it rehearsed to near perfection. But she had never given it to a fifteen-year-old girl, and never after such a perilous experience.

She should have been aware of the Grimm before they had even emerged. Monitoring their activity was her first priority, her reason for being at Patch. She had allowed herself to be distracted by Torchwick, and because of it, Ruby Rose had almost died.

Glynda had half the mind to call the Director and demand him demote her to a Rookie. That would teach her to not fall into complacency ever again.

"Miss Goodwitch?" Ruby called quietly. "Where are you taking me?"

Glynda looked over at the girl. She had sunk into her seat, her legs splayed out before her and eyes lowered to her chest, rising and falling unsteadily. Her already bloodied costume was getting redder close to her right shoulder.

"I'm taking you to our – Beacon's – Patch division. I'll explain everything to you there." Glynda said, taking a soft tone she hadn't used for longer than she could remember.

"Okay." Ruby's gaze went to the window. Glynda knew that look – that of someone who had been thrust into a situation they could not hope to understand and was trying to find a way out. It wasn't an uncommon sight in her line of work.

They drove in silence for a few more minutes before they arrived at the station. Glynda pulled up to the gates and shot the guard in charge of watching them a significant look, daring him to ask her for identification. They opened without delay.

She parked in front of the building and got out of the car, then circled around to open the door for Ruby. The girl set one foot on the ground, then started to tumble down, but Glynda caught her.

"Before anything else, you're going to need a medical exam," Glynda said, looking at her shoulder critically. "Did you try to treat the wound yourself?"

"No. My dad did." Ruby answered.

"Of course he did," Glynda clucked her tongue. "It's a wonder you didn't collapse during your… adventures, tonight. You could have gotten seriously hurt."

"Yeah, well," Ruby grumbled. "Lots of people get hurt every night."

Glynda shook her head, not knowing whether to admire the girl or think her a fool. She was leaning towards the latter, for now, but the night was still young.

She guided Ruby through the front doors, holding her by the shoulders as she paused, blinking at the obfuscating lights inside the building. Agents passed by and before them, some throwing them curious looks, others being more careful in their Commander's presence.

Glynda gestured to a passing agent, beckoning her close. "Take her to our med team," she said. "Make sure she's in a stable condition. Get her a shower and a fresh set of clothes. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," the agent saluted, then smiled at Ruby and extended a hand. "Shall we get going?"

Ruby eyed her cautiously. She was being treated like a child, and she was very much aware of it. But she didn't say anything about it as she took the agent's hand and let herself be guided away.

Glynda took a deep breath, then raised her head and walked towards the strategy room. She would need to unearth some old files for this particular briefing. Luckily, she knew exactly which ones to look for.

But first, she had to get permission from up high.

* * *

Ruby slid slowly down the wall and sat on the floor of the bathroom. She turned her head up, letting the cold shower hit her face and drag her hair down. The plastic and bandages wrapped around her shoulder did wonders to protect her injury, but she still winced as a few droplets landed a little too harshly on it.

The med team had examined her wound much more thoroughly than her father had, as was befitting of their profession. They had performed a series of exams on her, half of which she did not even come close to understanding, but in the end, they assessed that she was in no great risk. They did remove her stitches, though, citing that she should wait a couple more days before having them, as complications could arise and, in that case, they would be more damaging than helpful.

Ruby did not care much about any of that. Yes, she was glad she wasn't going to die or lose an arm, but her mind had moved on from her injury, from Torchwick, even from her troubles back at home…

She was more preoccupied with having been the target of two monsters and rescued by librarian-turned-badass-law-enforcer Glynda Goodwitch.

Freaking _monsters_ , straight out of a horror movie, with their dark, wolf-like shapes and those terrible, terrible red eyes. She could still picture them staring at her, boring into her soul, and then she'd start to shake and wish all that had happened today was just a nightmare.

But it wasn't.

Being shot was real. Her family beginning to fall apart was real. Beacon was real… The monsters – these creatures of Grimm – were real.

And she was still a superhero, no matter what anyone else wanted her to be.

Ruby stood up and turned off the shower, shaking her head to psych herself up. She dried herself quickly with a towel, then looked at the fresh white clothes the Beacon agents had gotten her, and beside them, her bloodied, torn, beaten to hell and back _uniform_.

* * *

Ruby opened the door of the strategy room and poked her head inside hesitantly, still unsure if she should go there, despite her assigned escort's continued insistence. She hadn't interacted much with Glynda Goodwitch, but witnessing her blast off two monsters' heads without breaking a sweat had been enough to make her respect her… and fear her a little, too.

The Commander was standing in front of a digital table, her fingers tapping dexterously on it, dragging files and putting them into a folder. On the wall behind her was a large screen which Ruby assumed was connected to the digital table, unless Beacon had invisible keyboards or something to operate it. After what she'd seen tonight, nothing was impossible.

"Come in, Miss Rose," Glynda said absently-minded. "I assume your medical examination produced good results?"

Ruby entered the room and closed the door behind her. "Yep – I mean, yes. Yes, it did. I am one hundred percent… stable," Ruby saluted. "Ma'am! Sir! …Commander?"

"For now, Glynda will suffice." The Commander looked away from the table, her eyes lingering on Ruby's uniform. Ruby tensed up, preparing an excuse for her choice of wear, but Glynda did not say a thing.

Glynda went to every window in the room and lowered their blinders, hiding them from the agents outside. Ruby gulped, realizing she was now completely alone with the older woman… the one with the energy rifle still hung behind her back.

"Miss Rose, the information I am about to share with you is extremely confidential. And by _extremely confidential_ , I mean, should it reach the wrong eyes and ears… well, let's say their owner should grow accustomed to the sight of bars for the rest of their lives," Glynda said. "Your inheritance and your recent deeds – as well as what you witnessed tonight – have earned you the right to that information. But should I, for any reason, think you are not capable of respecting its confidentiality…"

Glynda stopped talking, letting the warning reach her unspoken. Ruby gulped, then nodded solemnly. "I understand, Miss Goodwitch. Whatever you tell me, I'll take to my grave!"

Glynda raised an eyebrow at her, then turned to the digital table and tapped on it. A photo appeared on the screen on the wall, displaying a wolf like the ones that had tried to kill Ruby. The girl frowned as she inspected the Grimm. It was just as scary in picture as it was in real life.

"Like I told you back in the car, those beings you encountered are what we call _creatures of Grimm_ ," Glynda said. "They are monsters from another world who come to ours to prey on its inhabitants – be them human or faunus, man or woman, child or elderly."

"Wow, wow, wow. From another _world_?" Ruby asked, her mouth agape. "Like aliens?"

"That is one way to put it. But you won't find them flying across the sky in round spaceships or shapeshifting to infiltrate the governments of the world," Glynda shook her head. "They have but one objective: to exterminate us."

Ruby frowned. "Why?"

"We are not certain," Glynda said. "Some say we are sustenance to them. Like mice to a snake. Others theorize they are weakening us in preparation for something else to come," she paused. "If you ask my opinion – which just so happens to be the same as the Director's – they are mindless beasts. When I say their objective is to exterminate us… that is it. There is no reason behind it. It is simply what they are."

Ruby stared at the screen, her fear slowly giving way to a cold anger. If the Grimm wanted to kill them for no reason at all… If that was truly the case… She saw no reason not to return the favor.

"Careful," Glynda said, glaring mildly at her. "What makes the Grimm such effective predators of us sentient beings is their ability to sense our emotions. More specifically, the negative ones. Like the anger and disgust you feel now, or the sorrow of losing someone you held dear. They are attracted to these emotions, and they will go any distance to reach their origin."

Ruby looked away. So that was why they had attacked her before. She had been so upset at everything that had happened back home, she must have been like a neon sign spelling ' _EAT ME, GRIMM'_.

"People like you, Miss Rose, are especially susceptible to that," Glynda said. "So I advise you to be more careful the next time you find yourself so distraught. There are ways to deal with your emotional troubles that do not involve beating up criminals in the streets."

"People like me?" Ruby repeated.

Glynda did not as much as look at her. Clearly, she was very set on how this conversation was supposed to go. She turned back to the table and brought up more images on the screen.

Wolves. Bears. Armored boars. Giant birds. A… dragon? Ruby closed her eyes for a couple seconds, rubbed them, then looked at the screen again. Yep, that was a dragon, breathing fire and everything.

"The Grimm you encountered were but one specimen. There are many types, some more dangerous than the others," Glynda said. "Beowolves are fairly easy to deal with on their own, but in big numbers…"

"Wait, wait, wait! So you're telling me there are evil alien dragons invading Remnant, killing people left and right, and _somehow_ , no one knows about it?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"No. Clearly, I know about it. Now you do too," Glynda crossed her arms. "Tell me, Miss Rose, what is Beacon?"

Ruby frowned, not having expected to be asked any questions. Wasn't _she_ the one being lectured?

"Beacon is… uh… an international organization… for law enforcement?" She said slowly. "You stop bad guys. The worst ones, like Roman Torchwick."

"Correct. As far as the public is concerned, Beacon is just that, but in reality, the realm of our operations goes far past stopping terrorists and crime lords," Glynda said. "Our main focus, Miss Rose, has always been to combat the creatures of Grimm. While the vast majority of our operatives work on cases such as Torchwick, those are the very top are charged with stopping the Grimm from committing their atrocities."

"But… you can't keep that a secret. I mean, it's just not possible, right?" Ruby shook her head in disbelief. "People have to have seen the Grimm. The Internet is a thing! Mass media! Horror movies based in real life stories!"

Glynda looked at her, and Ruby noticed her eyes seemed very cold, all of a sudden. "We have our ways, Miss Rose."

Ruby pressed her lips together. She didn't know what was scarier: evil monsters coming from outer space to kill everyone, or Beacon somehow being able to keep that a secret from billions of people.

"Our job is not easy, Miss Rose. The agents designated to combating the Grimm face the prospect of death every day, and that will take its toll on anyone," Glynda said. "That's why we trust only our best to do it. People such as your mother."

The images of the Grimm disappeared, giving way for a video player. Ruby held her breath, her heartbeat accelerating. Glynda shot her a glance, nodded, then pressed play.

* * *

_The video started with the sight of a starry night, the moon full in the sky. The camera shook a bit as its carrier moved forward. It looked to be at eye level – perhaps it was attached to someone's glasses or some such accessory._

_"This is agent Rose, commencing record, as per requested by… whichever new directive Commander Goodwitch came up with. I don't remember the numbers."_

_There was a brief static, followed by a masculine voice. "Summer. Keep it professional."_

_"Yes, yes. Of course. It's ten past eleven in the evening. Temperature is cool. The day is, uh… March third?"_

_"Fourth."_

_"Oh, thank you, agent Xiao Long._ _You're such a sweetheart."_

_"_ Summer. _"_

_"Sorry. Sorry. I'm approaching the hotspot now. Playtime's over."_

_The camera panned down, revealing a pair of black leather boots, and below them, a dusty canyon with a half dozen Grimm – all of them Beowolves – roaming about aimlessly._

_Summer Rose dropped down, landing on the canyon with a soft thud. "Now, I'm supposed to put this… here, yes?"_

_"Wherever gives a good view, Summer."_

_"Oh, you would say that, agent Xiao Long." Summer giggled. The camera shifted from her view, lowering gradually until it was on the ground, facing up._

_Summer appeared in view of the camera, clad in a standard black-and-white Beacon uniform, her red hair tied back in a short ponytail. She had a holster around her left thigh, but her pistol was already in her hand._

_"Hey, you freaky dogs!" She yelled, and the all the Grimm turned at once to glare at her. "Yeah, I'm talking to you freaks. Come to mamma!"_

_The Beowolves dashed towards her, leaping and showing their claws and fangs, leaving her little room for escape, but just as they were about to get her, Summer disappeared, leaving only rose petals where she had been standing._

_She appeared again, standing on top of one of the Grimm's head, her pistol pressed against its skull. She pulled the trigger, and the beast exploded and turned to smoke._

_While the Grimm still struggled to understand what had just happened, Summer disposed of three of them with quick, expertly-aimed shots, then hopped away as the two remaining came to their senses and approached together._

_Summer smiled, holstering her pistol and producing a blade from her sleeve. She kicked towards the Grimm, appearing in front of one and stabbing it under its unarmored jaw. She jumped away, spinning to dodge its companion's claw strike, then stopped and faced it._

_"Any last words?" She asked, smirking. The beast roared. "Thought so."_

_She threw her blade, burying it on the Grimm's left eye, making it rise on its hind legs, whining in pain. Summer drew her pistol again and shot it in the chest, killing it._

_As the smoke from the monsters dissipated, agent Summer Rose took back her blade, hid it in her sleeve, and sheathed her pistol. She walked back to the camera and picked it up in one hand, pointing it at her face, while simultaneously untying her ponytail._

_"So," she winked. "Did you enjoy the show?"_

* * *

Even after the video ended, Ruby could not pry her eyes away from the screen and the sight of her mother. Her little smile, her silver eyes full of emotion and… life. They had pictures of her around the house, Ruby even had one on her bedtable… but this was different.

It felt like, only now, she was seeing her mother for the first time.

"For a long time, your mother was the best agent we had," Glynda said, breaking the silence. "Whatever task needed to be done, no matter how difficult it might have been, she accomplished it. She could have been a Commander like me… and more. But she never had the inclination to follow that path."

"So… I was right," Ruby smiled. "My mom _was_ a superhero."

Glynda nodded amusedly. "I wouldn't use that word, but… yes."

"How did she get her powers?" Ruby asked excitedly. "Radioactive explosion? Lightning strike? Mutated animal bite?!"

"None of that, Miss Rose. Her powers came from a genetic mutation, something the scientific community has come to call a Semblance," Glynda explained. "Not much is known about it, not yet, as the mutation is extremely rare, and occurrence of it has only been documented for a few decades now."

Ruby nodded mutely. That wasn't as exciting as all the theories she had come up over the weeks, but it was still pretty cool to finally know why she had her powers.

"You might actually be very useful in the research of Semblance. You are the first child of a known carrier to have manifested its effects." Glynda said.

"Uh, I don't like needles. Or x-ray machines. Or…anything science people do to research on people and stuff." Ruby spoke, smiling nervously.

"You don't have to do anything. I was only making a comment." Glynda assured.

"Okay," Ruby sighed in relief. "So, there are other people with this… Semblance? People running around super-fast like me?"

"Semblances manifest differently from person to person. In your case, it seems you inherited your mother's power," the Commander said. "What all Semblance carriers have in common is Aura – the ability to withstand more damage than the average person."

"Oh, so that's why I can take a bullet to the head!" Ruby exclaimed cheerfully, then pursed her lips. "I mean, most of the times."

"There's a limit, of course. You're not invulnerable," Glynda nodded towards the screen. "As you should know already."

Ruby looked away. Of course this conversation would end up here. She should have realized that sooner.

She glanced at her mother again. She had dealt with those Grimm so easily… Whatever could have killed her out there? Surely, it had to be something huge. A hundred of those dragons, maybe.

"Miss Goodwitch…" She said quietly, then raised her head to look the Commander in the eye. "I want to work with you. I… want to be an agent of Beacon and protect people from the creatures of Grimm."

Glynda stared at her for a while, not giving a clue as to what she was thinking. Finally, she approached Ruby and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I understand your desire to follow in your mother's footsteps," she said. "But I can't support you. Not now. You are fifteen-years-old. You have school, friends, and so many possibilities available to you. There's a lot of time left before you have to choose which path you'll take in life, Miss Rose."

"I don't need time. I have already decided – I've been going out every night, getting shot by bad guys and saving people and making a name for myself – but you people keep telling me treating me like I don't know what I'm doing! All you need to do is help me, and then I'll-"

"Miss Rose," Glynda interrupted, her voice cutting like a hot knife through butter. "This is not up for discussion. Call me when you turn eighteen. I will be more than happy to give you your uniform then."

"…I already have a uniform." Ruby said grudgingly.

Glynda sighed, then got her phone from her pocket as it started to ring. She glanced at the screen for a moment, then looked back at Ruby.

"Your father is waiting outside to take you back home," she said. "Be careful about that shoulder. If I catch you running around again anytime soon, I'll detain you in a cell until that wound is healed. Understood?"

"…Yes." Ruby turned around and exited the room, not caring about the way everyone in the building was looking at her.

This wasn't the end.

_This wasn't the end_.

* * *

The ride back home was governed by silence. Her father did not take his eyes off the road and the steering wheel, while she leaned against the window on the passenger's seat, looking at the passing streets, imagining what hid in the shadows of the alleyways and unlit corners.

When they finally arrived and Taiyang parked the car in the garage, he looked over at her and sighed. "You're ungrounded."

Ruby turned to face him, crossing her arms. "Thanks," she mumbled. "But… that doesn't matter much."

"I know," Taiyang smiled sadly. "You're just like her. Stubborn to a fault. She made it hell on Remnant for me whenever we disagreed on something, until I finally changed my mind – and somehow, she always me feel guilty for the whole thing."

He opened the door and started to get out, but Ruby leaned towards him and grabbed him by the wrist.

"Dad. I know it's dangerous. I… I know I could get… killed, or screw up and get other people killed…" She said. "But that doesn't matter. Bad things happen all the time. But I can make it so less people have to suffer because of that, because I'm strong! I can take anything that comes my way, Dad!" She paused. "I… I just need your help. Please."

He kept his back to her, not saying a word. Ruby waited anxiously. Whatever he said next would make or break her.

Finally, Taiyang sighed, got out of the car, then turned to her. "Like I said… You're just like her," he shook his head in wonder. "What do you need?"

* * *

The early morning sunlight filtered through the leaves of the tress spread throughout the graveyard, giving the place an eerie sensation. The fact that she was alone and that her footsteps were echoing far and wide only made Ruby more nervous.

She stopped before the hill at the very end of the graveyard and looked up. From the very top, one could see the whole of Patch and the sea surrounding the island. Everything felt small from up there. She knew from experience.

After taking a quick breath, Ruby began the climb, taking her time when she could have raced to her destination in a matter of seconds. That would have been disrespectful. And she was in no hurry, anyway.

The sole tombstone at the top was in good condition, as always. Ruby had always wondered if the graveyard people took special care of it, because of the luxurious spot it was in, but now she felt like Beacon must somehow have a hand in that, as well as her father being able to afford paying for it in the first place.

_Summer Rose_

_Thus kindly I scatter_

Some old poem her father claimed was her mother's favorite. It felt fitting, now of all times.

"Alright," Ruby muttered, kneeling before the tombstone and lowered her head. "Hey, Mom. Long time no see. Uh, sorry for what comes next…"

She closed her eyes and breathed in and out several times. God, she really didn't want to do this. But Miss Goodwitch had made it crystal clear. Grimm were attracted to negative emotions…

And Ruby had a lot of those bottled up inside.

"You… you shouldn't be _here_ ," Ruby said, looking up at the tombstone. "You should be back at home, with Dad and Yang. And me. You… shouldn't be on the ground."

This was so stupid. So wrong. She shouldn't be doing this.

"But you couldn't stop, could you? You just had to keep going, even though there are so many other people who could have done your job for you," Ruby clenched her fists. "It's been eight years, but the world is still turning. The Grimm haven't taken over. Beacon has been doing just fine without you!"

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

"But I'm not fine!" Ruby stood up, leaning forward furiously. "I'm – I'm a mess, everything's a mess, and I don't have you to help me through it, and now I have to figure out my powers and get shot and blasted by bad guys and fight those stupid monsters all on my own because _you left me_!"

She heard her scream ring through the graveyard and fell to her knees, wrapping her arms around herself.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she mumbled, holding back her tears. "I didn't mean that. I love you. It's just – I need…"

She stopped talking when she heard leaves rustling and a low, drawn-out growl behind her. Ruby wiped the tears away from her eyes with a hand, then stood and turned around, facing the approaching Beowolf.

She locked eyes with the Grimm, taking in the red, waves of terror striking at her, her mind screaming at her body to run as far as she could and to never look back. But she planted her feet on the ground, reached for something hidden by her cape, and revealed the knife she taken from the kitchen back home.

"Okay, you freaky dog," Ruby smiled. "Come at me!"


	7. Field tests are the best tests

"Okay, you freaky dog. Come at me!"

The Beowolf stood on its hind legs and roared, the sound so intense that it caused Ruby's hair to lash against her face. It fell on all fours again, its limbs bending in preparation, then it leaped straight at her.

Ruby braced herself, waiting until the very last second to dash to the side. The Grimm collided against her mother's tombstone with a terrible crunching noise and stumbled back, shaking its head in disorientation.

She closed in on it, swinging her knife with all her might, but the blade just bounced off the monster's side, as if its skin was made of steel. The Grimm spun around, slamming its arm into her, sending her tumbling down the hill.

Ruby grit her teeth and dragged a hand through the dirt and grass, slowing down her descent until she was standing at the base of the hill. She looked over her shoulder, hoping no one else was in the graveyard so early in the morning, then set her gaze back on the Grimm, which was racing down the hill to engage her again.

Okay. This was considerably trickier than she had expected. Not that she had thought killing a monster would be easy… _but_ her mother certainly had made it look like it was. But, then again, she had a pistol and an actual blade in that recording, not a measly kitchen knife.

Ruby snapped back to reality, ducking under the Grimm as it jumped at her. She rolled on the ground, hissing as her injured shoulder temporarily supported the weight of her entire body, then rose back to her feet.

She had to think smart. She was badly equipped, yes, but that didn't spell her doom. After all, she had superpowers, and she had what she had learned from her mother's demonstration…

"Hey!" She exclaimed suddenly, and the Grimm turned and glared at her. "I think you've got something in your eye!"

She aimed quickly and threw her knife, only for it to miss the Beowolf by an embarrassingly large margin and fall on the grass behind it. Ruby gulped, remembering there was a reason why she was always kept out of games of dart in school.

Plan B! The Grimm dashed at her, but she jumped over it, boosting herself off its head and landing behind him. She picked her knife up and spun around, the beast already coming at her again.

Instead of moving, Ruby stood her ground, her heartbeat rising as her foe grew closer and closer. It came to a halt right before her, swinging a claw down towards her head, but Ruby ducked under it, then jumped, thrusting up with her knife.

Satisfaction flooded her system as the blade met little resistance on the Beowolf's underjaw. Hanging from her weapon, Ruby put her feet on the Grimm's chest and pushed. It began to fall, but before it hit the ground, its body turned to smoke, and Ruby landed face-down with a soft thump.

She laid there for a moment, unbelieving of her own accomplishment. She had done it. The Grimm was dead. She had killed it – with just a kitchen knife! Ruby jumped to her feet and threw her hands upwards in celebration.

Her party was cut short by the sound of someone clapping slowly behind her. Ruby turned around, starting to panic, and saw Glynda Goodwitch walking towards her with her energy rifle hanging on her back. Ruby almost felt relief, but then remembered who she was looking at and started to panic even more.

"You certainly have conviction, Miss Rose. I can't take that away from you," Glynda said, looking at the dissipating smoke. "You did a good job killing that Grimm… for a first-timer."

"T-thank you?" Ruby squealed. "How did you know…?"

"Did you learn nothing when I brought you to Beacon? Taking care of Grimm is our job. I knew one would emerge here well in advance," Glynda crossed her arms. "I did not know _you_ would be here. Though I can't say I'm surprised."

Ruby lowered her shoulders meekly. "Please don't lock me up, Miss Goodwitch. I know you told me you would do that if you caught me like this, but I have a whole life ahead of me – you said so yourself! Pleeease?"

Glynda huffed. She never had intended to actually carry out her threat, but didn't want the girl to know that, of course. "Alright. I'll let it pass this time, even though you could have gotten seriously injured."

She stepped closer, inspecting Ruby's shoulder with an intense stare that only made her more nervous. A few seconds later, Glynda backed off, seemingly having found nothing wrong.

Ruby looked up at the Beacon Commander hesitantly. She didn't know what to expect next. Would she call her father and demand him be more controlling of her actions? Would she change her mind and carry out her threat? And, as always, the energy rifle was there…

"Miss Rose. I would be a fool to think this won't happen again. You might back off for a day or two, but I know within the next week, I will see signs of your running around, confronting criminals and Grimm," Glynda said. "So I have a proposal. A test of sorts."

"A test?" Ruby frowned. "For what?"

"To see if you are fit to be an agent of Beacon."

Ruby tried to hold herself back, but it was an effort doomed from the start. Her eyes lit up, and she hopped up and down on the tip of her toes. Glynda chuckled at the sight, then turned around and gestured for Ruby to follow.

* * *

Glynda closed the door of the strategy room and lowered the blinders on the windows, all the while keeping a vigilant eye on Ruby as she explored the room. The girl was curious, which wasn't exactly something good for an agent, but in this case, it couldn't be helped – Ruby was only fifteen, after all.

"Can I turn this on?" Ruby asked shyly, pointing at the screen on the wall.

"Yes, as long as you can figure out how to." Glynda replied absently while she took care of something on her phone.

Ruby eyed the screen suspiciously, then turned to the digital table in the middle of the room, currently also turned off. Remembering how Glynda had used it before, she start to swipe a finger on it, to no avail. Frustrated, Ruby raised her hand and brought it back down just as fast, practically slamming it on the table.

Glynda winced and looked away from her phone. "Perhaps try a gentler approach?"

Ruby bowed her head in shame, then slowly approached a finger to the table. She tapped it, holding the finger there for a couple seconds, and just like that, the table and the screen on the wall came to light.

"Congratulations," Glynda said dryly. "You just passed Beacon kindergarten."

"Thanks?" Ruby turned to look at the screen. "Whoa, what's that?"

The screen was showing a world map separated in what looked to be hundreds of tiny squares. Red spots littered the map, some brighter and bigger than others – especially in Patch, Ruby noticed.

"That is how we keep surveillance of the Grimm," Glynda explained. "You see, the process by which they come from their world to ours is no subtle one. They create fissures, portals of a kind, and those release a particular kind of energy which, by no small effort from our scientists, we are capable of detecting."

"So you're telling me all those red dots are Grimm?" Ruby shook her head in awe. "There are so many…"

"No, they are not necessarily Grimm. Those fissures take a long time to manifest – weeks, months, sometimes a full year," the Commander said. "Constant monitoring of their development allows us to arrive at their location even before the Grimm emerge."

"So that's how you've been able to keep them a secret…"

Glynda nodded, then went to the table and worked it. The map zoomed in first on the continent of Vale, then Patch. Ruby gulped, making a quick count of how many red dots were there – five, ten, twenty, fifty…

"Sometimes a large number of Grimm emerge together in a single location, at nearly the same time. We call that a Surge," Glynda said. "We know one will be happening here in the very near future, Miss Rose. That is why I've been stationed here for the past months."

"What about Torchwick?" Ruby asked.

"A side-objective," the Commander's eyes narrowed. "One that I will treat more seriously next time," she turned to Ruby. "We predict this Surge will happen one month from now. I will help you prepare for it, and when the day comes… That will be your test."

Ruby looked at the screen for a moment. Killing one Grimm had been tough. Killing fifty and more? That would be no walk in the park either. But she wasn't one to pass up a challenge.

"I won't disappoint you, Miss Goodwitch."

* * *

The following days brought Ruby's life closer to what it had been like before.

By day, she attended school. The end of term exams were coming up soon, and the teachers and students were reacting accordingly to that fact, with the usual panic and fear and desperation. Ruby tried to not fall victim to that phenomenon, but it was hard when everyone was freaking out around her.

By night, she donned her Red Bolt uniform – which Yang had been kind enough to clean and stitch up – and went searching for bad guys. With Torchwick out of town, crime had gone down considerably, but she still found robberies and kidnappings and other evil deeds to foil.

Commander Goodwitch would regularly contact her and direct her to the location of a Grimm emergence. Seeing the red portals the monsters came from was frightening and awesome at the same time. Killing them afterwards was just awesome, though.

Her weapon of choice was still her trusty kitchen knife, much to Glynda's chagrin. The Commander insisted on her using one of Beacon's energy pistols, but Ruby refused vehemently, citing she had other plans in mind. Glynda stopped trying to convince her when she realized how bad her aim was.

At home, the family dynamic was starting to become normal again. It was still awkward for Ruby to go out at night knowing her father knew about it now, and sometimes she'd catch him and Yang on a glaring contest. Other than that, though… she was happy.

* * *

"So that's your life now?" Yang asked. "Hunting monsters from another dimension?"

Ruby looked up from her crouched position on the ground of the forest. Her scythe was laid out before her, separated into its various segments. Her hands were drenched in oil, and there was a single black dot on the tip of her nose.

"They're not from another dimension, they're from another _world_!" She corrected.

"Same difference," Yang shrugged. "Isn't it scary, though? From what you said, these Grimm sound like the stuff of nightmare."

"I guess? It was scary when I saw them for the first time," Ruby said, turning her attention back to her scythe. "But now it's like anything else. If you were in the jungle and you saw, like, five lions, you wouldn't be scared of the sixth one."

"Uh, I don't know about that. I think I'd be scared of all of them." Yang noted.

"That's 'cause you're a chicken!" Ruby stuck her tongue out at her.

Yang rolled her eyes, then sat beside her. She watched her sister assembling her ridiculously-complicated weapon bit by bit, fascinated as it actually started to resemble something that made sense.

After a couple more minutes, the scythe was finished. Ruby jumped to her feet, took a few steps away from Yang, then took a practice swing. It was heavier than before, that was certain, but she didn't think that would be detrimental to its use.

She lowered the scythe and pointed it at a distant tree, lowering her head until her right eye was level with the cable. Yang stared in utter confusion as Ruby squinted heavily, her tongue slipping out of the corner of her mouth.

"What… are you doing?" Yang asked slowly.

"Testing my aim?" Ruby glanced at her briefly. "Maybe you would understand if bought some Dust for me…"

"We are not restarting that conversation," Yang said immediately. "We shouldn't even be here, you know? You should be in your room, sitting in front of your neat desk, studying for the finals."

"Oh, _you_ are going to lecture me?" Ruby turned to face her. "You didn't study for more than two minutes for _your_ finals."

Yang leaned back, joining her hands behind her head and smiling. "Remind me who's attending her graduation ceremony next week?"

Ruby grumbled under her breath, wishing she was as skilled in passing school years without studying as Yang was.

Yang stood up and walked to her motorcycle, then tilted her head towards Ruby and patted the seat. "Come on. Playtime's over."

"It's not playtime," Ruby muttered dejectedly. "I'm _almost_ an agent of Beacon."

"And I'm almost a responsible adult!" Yang exclaimed cheerfully. "It's the small steps that get you there! Now get on the bike."

Ruby folded her scythe and put it her jeans' pocket, then climbed onto the motorcycle. Yang patted her in the head once, then got on too.

"Just remember," Yang said as she revved up. "If things get too intense, if you feel like it's too much for you… You can always talk to me about it. Okay?"

Ruby wrapped her arms around her sister's waist and rested her head on her back. "I know. You're the best, sis."

* * *

Glynda leaned back on her chair, distancing herself from the laptop on her lap, and looked through the window of her van. Tonight was proving to be very peaceful, which was not usual for her. She was usually too busy dealing with criminals or hunting down Grimm to kick back like this. She had to admit, it was good to have someone do her work for once… as long as no one found out about it.

She listened to her earpiece of a brief moment, making sure Ruby was doing fine, then turned it off and brought a french fry to her mouth, gobbling it up in the blink of an eye before turning the earpiece on again.

" _Miss Goodwitch_?" Ruby called hesitantly. " _Did comms get weird there for a second?_ "

"Did it?" Glynda replied impassively. "You are imagining things. Focus on the job."

" _Okay. Sorry_."

Glynda turned back to her laptop, watching through Ruby's vision as she approached her destination. The Grimm were supposed to emerge in the northeastern sector of Patch. Luckily, that wasn't a very popular area of town, but Glynda had made sure beforehand that no civilians would stumble upon the scene. It never hurt to be cautious.

" _Here_?" Ruby asked, stopping.

"One more block." Glynda executed her earpiece trick again, this time eating a couple more fries than was safe.

" _Okay, are you sure comms aren't weirding out? I swear it stopped working for a few seconds right there_."

"Miss Rose. Do you want to be an agent or not?"

" _Sorry_!" Ruby arrived at the next block. " _Here_?"

"Yes, that's the street," Glynda confirmed. "Set the camera."

Ruby took off the glasses and set them on a nearby bench. Glynda tilted her head a little, appraising the view she got from that spot, then nodded.

"That's good enough. Now wait," Glynda said. "They should come any minute now. Keep your eyes open."

Ruby crossed her arms and leaned against a lamppost, looking around regularly. Glynda kept her eyes on the screen, wanting to be aware of the Grimm as soon as they emerged. Every few seconds, she would turn off her earpiece to eat more fries, and without fail, she would see Ruby's face twist in a mixture of confusion and annoyance.

Finally, she heard the distinct sound of crackling, then watched as a point of swirling red energy appeared just above the road. Two black arms burst out of the fissure, then a Beowolf landed on the street.

Three more Beowolves followed, then a single boar, its body armored with what looked to be stone and with two large tusks protruding from its chin. Ruby gasped. " _What is_ that _?_ "

"That's what we call a Boarbatusk. It's one level above Beowolves, those being the least dangerous ones – though you should already know that, or so I hope," Glynda set her fries aside and hunched towards the laptop. "Get your knife out, Miss Rose."

She heard Ruby giggle softly. " _Oh,_ sure, _Commander. Let me get my_ knife."

Glynda was about to ask what was so funny about her order, when she saw Ruby retrieve a red rectangular object from beneath her cloak. The girl spread her feet and extended her hands onwards, holding the object, then pressed a button on it.

For the next seconds, Glynda could do nothing but stare, utterly befuddled.

"…I did _not_ authorize the use of… whatever that thing is." She said finally, assuming a stern tone of voice.

" _It's my scythe! I call it Crescent Rose. Isn't it the coolest thing ever?_ " Ruby gushed.

"Whether it's cool or not is irrelevant," Glynda chided. "You can't use it, not before I ascertain whether it's effective and, more importantly, _safe_."

" _Of course it's safe! I built it myself!_ " Ruby exclaimed. " _Besides, it's also a-_ "

She had to cut herself short as one of the Beowolves leaped at her. "Dodge!" Glynda commanded.

Instead, Ruby turned her scythe upside down, causing the Grimm to crash against it and bounce back. She disappeared in a puff of petals, reappearing a few paces behind the Beowolf as its upper body slid to the side, severed clean from its waist.

" _It's effective too! I made sure of it,_ " Ruby pointed out. " _I knew after fighting that first Beowolf that I'd need something really sharp and durable, so I had to make some adjustments, visit the junkyard again and_ -"

"Focus! On your left!"

Ruby ducked under another Beowolf's claw, then slammed her scythe on the ground and pushed herself off her feet, planting them firmly on the monster's face, driving it back. She jumped, letting go of her weapon for a brief second, then spun and gripped it again, swinging it in a wide arc. The smoke from the Grimm's death blew right in her face, making her cough as she landed back on her feet.

Glynda shook her head in exasperation, then noticed the Boarbatusk was dragging a paw on the ground threateningly. "Watch out! From-" she cursed, not being able to tell how Ruby was oriented in the smoke. "Just be prepared, it's going to charge at you!"

The Boarbatusk jumped forward, bringing its head low, then went spinning on the ground at a incredible speed. It disappeared in the smoke and a second later, Ruby went flying out of it, barely keeping a grip on her scythe.

Ruby dragged Crescent Rose on the concrete, halting her momentum, then shook her head and looked at the Boarbatusk. " _Uh, how do I kill this one_?"

"Its underside is vulnerable. You need to get a clear shot at it if you want to do some real damage."

" _Did someone say_ clear shot _?_ "

"…I do not like what you are implying."

The Boarbatusk came charging at Ruby again, spinning faster and faster. The redhead held her scythe in front of her, leaning back so it was at a obtuse angle in relation to the Grimm. When the Boarbatusk impacted against the weapon, Ruby grunted and swung upward, launching the monster up. The Grimm squealed in fear, spiraling slowly as it arced through the air.

Ruby spun Crescent Rose in her grasp and lifted it, as if aiming a firearm. It was then that Glynda noticed the scope attached near the grip, and the barrel protruding from the end of the cable.

"No."

Ruby pulled the trigger, and the shot came exploding out of the barrel, illuminating the night with a bright red glow. Adding to Glynda's surprise, it made direct contact with the Boarbatusk's exposed belly, killing it instantly and spectacularly.

" _Yep_ ," Ruby said smugly. " _It's also a gun._ "

Glynda adjusted her glasses and cleared her throat. "The last I checked, your aim was an utter disaster."

" _I was pretending. Sorry!_ " Ruby laughed nervously." _I wanted to surprise you._ "

"…There are two Beowolves left."

Ruby nodded. Indeed, there were, and they were coming straight at her. She grinned, running towards them at full speed. She jumped, holding Crescent Rose to the right, letting her momentum take care of slicing one of the Grimm in two.

Still moving, she shifted her grasp on the scythe, aiming forward. She bit her lip, making sure the barrel was pointed at the ground, then pulled the trigger. Her momentum shifted immediately, aided by her powers to send her right back towards the last Grimm.

Ruby put her feet back on the ground, forcing herself to stop just in front of the Beowolf. The monster stared at her with some unknown emotion, then turned its head slightly to look at the blade resting against the back of its neck.

She pulled the trigger again. The recoil made Crescent Rose surge towards her, slicing the Beowolf's head off. Its body collapsed to the floor, then turned to smoke.

Ruby folded her scythe, attached it to her belt, then walked towards the camera. " _Is that all?_ " She asked, sounding so sweet it was almost disturbing.

"…Yes. That's all for tonight," Glynda leaned back, rubbing her eyes. "Was that Dust you were shooting, Ruby?"

" _Maybe?_ " The redhead answered hesitantly, picking the camera-glasses up and pointing them towards her face.

"Did you take it from Beacon's stock?" Glynda narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

" _Maybe? I didn't_ take _them! I just, uh, borrowed them!_ " Ruby blinked. " _I'll, uh, give it back. As soon as I figure out how to recycle Dust…_ "

"Miss Rose, Dust isn't recyclable."

Ruby stared at the camera fixedly, and slowly – probably thinking Glynda couldn't see it – raised a finger to turn it off. Glynda looked at the empty feed on her laptop for a moment, then sighed.

" _That was awkward._ " She heard Ruby grumble.

"I can still hear you." Glynda noted, only a bit amused.

" _Yeah? Yeah! I knew that,_ " Ruby replied. "… _I'm going home! Got exams tomorrow! Bye see ya sorry I stole all that Dust haha-_ "

Glynda ended their communications, realizing Ruby probably had no idea how to do it herself.

She shook her head in awe. Her Semblance was a valuable trait, but that was hardly all Ruby had to offer. Had she really built that monstrosity of a weapon all by herself? And, from what Glynda had seen, it worked exactly as intended, no backfiring included.

This test was just a formality at this point, she realized. Or… it had become a test for something else entirely.

"Enough of that," Glynda said to herself, looking at her fries. "Ah. Scoundrels! You're not eating yourselves anytime soon... Hmm…"

* * *

Ruby walked out of her classroom, sighing in relief. Finally, she was free of exams. As far as she knew, of course. She could have done really badly on Geography, or History, or English, or… a lot of subjects, actually, and be in for some weeks of desperate retaking exams. But she was always an optimist!

Always!

Most of the time.

Regardless of her results, she had other things to think about. Yang's graduation ceremony would take place at six o'clock, and after that, her father was taking them both to dinner. Hopefully no Grimm would attack them midway through their meal.

She was always an optimist.

* * *

"Oof!"

Ruby crashed on the living room sofa, holding her arms up like an exhausted cartoon character. She kicked at her ankles, angrily trying to take her heels off. Whoever had invented those had better be in prison for the evil they had unleashed on mankind.

"Grr!" She groaned. "Stupid… shoes!"

Taiyang walked around the sofa and crouched beside her, taking the heels off her feet and putting them down on the floor. " _Thanks, Dad_." He said with a falsetto.

"Thanks, Dad." Ruby repeated, giggling.

Taiyang turned on the TV and sat beside her. Ruby wiggled on the sofa, resting her head on his lap. She didn't know what had been more exhausting, sitting on a stiff chair, listening to professors and chosen students make long-winded speeches for _three_ hours; or eating twenty slices of pizza in a row.

Granted, one of those two things was entirely her fault, but still.

"How can Yang still stand after all this?" Ruby asked morosely. "And _dance_ , on top of that. Ugh…"

"Do young people still dance at parties these days?" Taiyang raised his eyebrows in mock disbelief. "I thought they were too busy getting high and doing the deed."

"I wouldn't know," Ruby yawned. "What does it mean to 'get high', Dad?"

"Hah. Good one, Ruby," Taiyang chuckled. He switched channels a few times, then frowned and looked down at Ruby, meeting her innocent stare. "Wait a minute. Are you serious? Oh, God, we never had that talk, did we?!"

Ruby pretended to be confused for a little while more, then broke into laughter and punched him playfully on the shoulder. "I was kidding, Dad. I know what it means to get high," she said. "Yang does it all the time."

"Hah!" Taiyang leaned back, relaxing a bit, then frowned again. "…That was a joke, right?"

"Yes! Jeez, Dad. You raised us, you should know better."

Taiyang patted her forehead and ran a hand through her hair, as if to apologize. Ruby hummed happily at the act.

As her father watched TV in silence, Ruby closed her eyes, letting her body rest. She doubted she would be able to stand for a couple hours. Her stomach was just too full. Besides, this moment felt too good.

"Hey, Dad," she mewled. "You were a superhero too, right?"

Taiyang tore his eyes from the TV. "…What?"

"You know. You worked with Mom, right? So you must have been a superhero too…"

He broke into a smile. "I did work with her, but no, I wasn't a superhero. I was just a regular agent of Beacon. More like a… support guy, you know? Help from afar, look up stuff and monitor other stuffs." He explained.

"Oh. And now you're a teacher," Ruby said. "Makes sense."

"I guess it does," he looked down, twirling a strand of her hair around one of his fingers. "How have things with Glynda been going?"

"I don't know," Ruby looked away, pouting. "I haven't made any big mistakes fighting Grimm. Didn't get hurt, not even once. I even showed her Crescent Rose…" she sighed. "But I think she doesn't like me…"

"Oh, that's just Glynda. She's had a stick up her butt ever since she was born," Taiyang said. "Don't let her attitude get you down. You don't need her to like you. You only need to show her you're worthy of being accepted," he grinned. "Should take no effort from you, sweetheart."

Ruby looked up at him, her eyes watering a bit. She held back her tears, knowing he and Yang would never let her live it down if she started to cry like that.

"Are you going out tonight?" He asked.

"I don't think so. I'm super tired, and my belly is super full," Ruby wrapped her arms around his torso, pulling herself closer to him. "Miss Goodwitch can do the Grimm slaying for _one_ night."

Just as she finished the phrase, her phone started buzzing. Ruby groaned so loudly, Taiyang almost jumped from the couch.

She took her phone and glanced at the screen, not surprised at all by who was calling her. "I could ignore her," she mused aloud. "But I really want this job…"

"Spoken like a true beaten down adult." Taiyang said proudly.

Ruby slipped the phone next to her ear. "Hi?"

" _Miss Rose. You need to get to headquarters as fast as possible,_ " Glynda said. She sounded breathless, as if she had been running before. " _The Surge is happening_ tonight _._ "

Ruby sat up suddenly. "Wait, tonight?" She frowned. "But… you said it would happen in a month, and that was just a couple weeks ago…"

" _I was wrong. Get here. Bring your weapon._ " Glynda hung up.

Ruby blinked a few times, then laid her phone down on the sofa. Taiyang looked at her with a curious expression.

"What's up?" He asked casually.

"Our city is getting invaded by otherworldly monsters."

"So, the usual." He shrugged.

"No, I mean like, lots of them."

Taiyang crossed his arms. "Well," he huffed. "That's no fun."


	8. Red Like Roses

Ruby walked inside the Beacon headquarters, clad in her uniform with her folded scythe attached to her belt. She looked around at the numerous agents running everywhere, making preparations for the approaching Surge.

Seeing so many people preparing for combat, wielding the finest weapons in the world, Ruby suddenly realized where she was now. A few months ago, she was just a girl who went to school and had her weird hobbies. Today she was a superpowered prospective agent of Beacon, and she was about to fight off a monster invasion from another world.

Life was always changing, but she had never realized how quickly and drastically it did sometimes.

"Ruby!" Glynda appeared before her, leading her to a wall away from the bustling activities of the other agents. "You showed up faster than I expected."

"Well, I do have super speed." Ruby noted awkwardly.

"The Surge is going to start in at least twenty-four minutes. We've narrowed down the biggest points of entry to three. I'll be leading a group to one; another group will take the other," Glynda paused. "You are going to take care of the last one."

"M-me?" Ruby gulped. "But I've barely started fighting Grimm."

"There will be other agents nearby. But you know what you are, Ruby. If there is someone here capable of getting the job done on their own, it's you."

Ruby nodded hesitantly. She was too nervous to fully appreciate the Commander's praise, but it didn't pass her by either. Taking a deep breath, Ruby raised her chin and looked Glynda in the eyes.

"Alright," she said. "Tell me where to go, Commander."

* * *

Yang swallowed the last of her drink and put her glass down on the table beside her, shaking her head to resist the coming daze. She bowed her head a little, smiling as she stared at the dance floor in the middle of the club, her many friends and classmates going wild on it.

This was probably the last time she would see them, at least for a few years. She would be going on her road trip soon, and after that… who knew where life would take her? But it felt good to be out of school. There was no better sensation than that of being free.

She heard her phone buzz inside her purse, hidden safely on the ground next to the wall. Yang bent down and fished the device from its confines, then groaned as she saw it was her father who was calling her, probably with a million questions about where she was and what she was up to.

"Yo, Yang!" One of her girl friends called her, leaning against the rails of the dance floor. "Stop looking at your phone and get here already!"

…Her father could stand to worry for one night.

Yang grinned, tossed her phone back inside her purse, then strut towards the dance floor. She grabbed her friend by the arm and dragged her into the crowd.

* * *

The portal was unlike any Ruby had seen before, so massive that it blocked the view of the stars above and showered the surrounding buildings in a bright red glow. The Grimm were already emerging from it when she got the street, Beowolves and Boarbatusks and a couple creatures who looked very much like bears – Ursas, she remembered Glynda had called them.

Ruby touched her earpiece, turning it on. "I'm here, Miss Goodwitch," she said. "The agents should arrive in a few minutes. Should I wait for them?"

" _That's up to you_ ," Glynda replied after a brief moment. " _Good luck, and keep your wits about you_."

Ruby turned off the earpiece and unfolded Crescent Rose, holding it in front of her. The Grimm, which were now occupying almost the whole width of the street before her – and there were more behind them! – all turned to look at her, detecting her raging emotions.

Good. That would only make the job easier.

She dashed forward, kicking off the ground and letting her momentum carry her towards the Grimm, lopped off a Beowolf's head, then landed and spun in place, swinging her scythe, killing anything too close to her. Smoke surrounded her from all sides, making it impossible for her to see her enemies.

She heard loud growling approaching her, and suddenly three Beowolves came lunging at her from the smoke. Ruby raised her scythe and took aim haphazardly, aiming a shot at one of their heads but instead hitting its shoulder.

One of the attacking Grimm tackled her from behind, sending her reeling towards the one in front of her. The creature's claw rose and landed squarely on her face. If it weren't for her Aura, Ruby would be in serious trouble.

Thinking fast, Ruby slammed Crescent Rose on the floor and stood on it, then pulled the trigger, sending herself flying skyward with the recoil of the shot. Reaching the height of her rise, Ruby hovered in the air for a moment and looked down.

There were so many, it was difficult to tell them apart. A living black sea of creatures driven by hatred, and more kept adding to their numbers, dropping out of the portal in the sky. Was it even possible for her to kill them all?

She closed her eyes. This wasn't the time to doubt herself. It was time to prove she was ready to be a hero, to Glynda, to her family, and to herself.

Ruby took aim behind her and shot, propelling herself back down fast. Her descent was marked by a trail of rose petals, like a bloody rainbow in the night. She landed gently and immediately started running, swinging her weapon at the Grimm closest to her.

The next few minutes passed by like a blur. Her body moved of its own accord, cold instinct taking over to guide her on how to slay the Grimm as efficiently as possible. Her scythe became an extension of her, its blade tearing through skin and bone armor as if they were nothing.

Through the smoke, her silver eyes shone through.

* * *

Glynda lowered her rifle, letting it cool for a bit as the wave of Grimm temporally grew less intense. She rolled her sore shoulders and cracked her neck, then took a step back, letting her agents hold the line by themselves for a moment.

Hers was not the worst spot in the Surge. That honor, so to speak, belonged to Ruby's. According to reports from the agents she had directed to help the girl, there were close to two hundred Grimm there, or more. This might very well be the worst Surge Beacon had faced in the last decade.

She walked to a van, where her support squad was keeping track of the ongoing operation, and gestured for one of the agents' attention. "How are things going? In a broad sense."

"Everything seems to be going smoothly so far," the agent replied dutifully. "We haven't suffered any casualties. A couple agents have been injured, but nothing serious."

"What about civilian control?" Glynda asked. "Anything worthy of concern?"

"We've kept the perimeters successfully. No one should know a thing," he said. "Emergency measures are ready anyways. Gas bombs, _lightshows_ …"

"Good. But remember," Glynda's eyes narrowed. "Those are for _emergencies_."

The agent nodded stiffly, then turned back to his computer. Glynda started to walk back to the battlefront, touching her earpiece.

"Miss Rose?" She called. "How are things on your end?"

She heard static, then the sound of slashing and the whizzing of smoke. " _Fine! I'm having the time of my life_!"

"Don't get too excited," Glynda said amusedly. "Keep an eye on my agents, please. They aren't as agile as you."

" _Yes, sir_!" Ruby replied enthusiastically. " _I'll be as vigilant as a- oh, wait_! _I think the portal's closing_!"

* * *

Ruby hopped away from the horde of Grimm and looked up at the sky. The portal was shrinking steadily, its glow fading and leaving the street lit only by the lampposts on the sidewalks – the ones still intact, that is.

Just as the portal seemed about to disappear, two huge arms burst out of it, widening it to twice its size. A new Grimm forced itself into Remnant and dropped to the ground, shattering the concrete beneath it. The other Grimm scurried away from it, almost as if they were afraid.

" _Ruby_?" Glynda called. " _Did you say the portal was closing_?"

"Yep! It's done!" Ruby confirmed. "There's a new Grimm, bigger than the rest. It's like a gorilla."

" _A gorilla? Miss Rose, that's bad news_ ," Glynda said. " _What you're looking at is a Beringel, one of the most dangerous Grimm we know of. There have been less reports of confrontation with that species than there are fingers on your hands._ "

"Okay," Ruby nodded. "How do I kill it?"

"… _Perhaps you should wait for back-up_."

The doubt in the Commander's voice was enough to give Ruby pause. If Glynda Goodwitch was wary of fighting a Grimm like that, then she probably should be too. But it wasn't as if she could just ignore it, not with the way it was looking at her…

"I can do this, Miss Goodwitch." Ruby said, mustering every bit of confidence she had in her.

" _Alright_ ," Glynda replied after a moment. " _But keep your earpiece on. If it starts to get bad, I want to know it immediately._ "

"Understood."

Ruby faced the Beringel, her silver eyes locking with its red ones. At that moment, an understanding seemed to spark between them, from human to monster. The Grimm parted, clearing a space between them.

Ruby yelled, running towards the Beringel at full speed, becoming a blur of red petals. She appeared before the Grimm, bringing her scythe down on its neck, only for the blade to bounce off its steel-like hide. It roared and attempted to grab her, but Ruby spun around it, taking quick shots at it, then attempted another slash, this time at the back of its head.

The Beringel turned around, unfazed, and tackled her. Ruby went flying backward, rolling on the floor, her Aura taking the brunt of the fall. She rose to her feet and took aim, shooting at the Grimm as it charged at her, but it brushed the Dust rounds as if they were nothing.

The monster reached her and threw a punch. Ruby jumped above it, vaulting over the Beringel. Her eyes widened as, even as she dodged the attack, she felt the air ripple from the sheer force of it.

Ruby landed behind the Grimm and pressed the blunt side of Crescent Rose's blade against its head. She pulled the trigger, unloading a round at point-blank, and finally, the Beringel stumbled forward, grunting in pain.

"Hah!" Ruby lifted Crescent Rose, preparing a slash. "Got yo-"

The Beringel turned around, its hand closing around her face faster than she could react. It lifted her off the ground, huffing angrily, and started to squeeze. Ruby dropped her scythe and beat her foe's hand, trying desperately to make it drop her, to no avail.

" _Ruby_?" She heard Glynda's voice crackling in her ear. " _Are you stirlllzzz_ -" Her voice was substituted by distortion and static, then suddenly the earpiece shattered.

Ruby grit her teeth, feeling her Aura drain away quickly. Mustering the last of her strength, she lunged forward, activating her speed. The Beringel's hold did not falter, but the attempt was enough to make it angrier.

The Grimm roared, slammed her on the ground, then tossed her aside. Ruby soared through the air helplessly and hit a building, its wall shattering from the impact. She yelled in pain and landed on a cold hard floor, black dots filling her vision.

* * *

"Ruby? Respond. _Ruby_?" Glynda tore her earpiece from her ear, then threw it on the ground, breaking it. "Damnit."

She turned away from the frontlines and marched towards her van, opening its door brusquely. She entered and, after a few seconds, came out of it with a new rifle in hand, this one even bigger than her usual and with a scope on it.

"Commander!" A support agent called to her. "Point 3 is closed, but our agents are reporting that Red Bolt is down! Grimm are slipping away!"

"Tell them to keep the perimeter! Send our reserves after the escaping Grimm!" Glynda yelled. "And get me something fast! _Now_!"

* * *

Yang stretched her arms above her head and shook her head slightly, pumping herself up for the rest of the night. She and a couple of friends had left the club when the music had taken a turn for the worse, and were now in search of a better place.

"I told yooou… I'm not gonna be a medic, I'm going to be a… a…"

"A whaat? A professional… card player?"

"Noo! Stop making… fun of me! I'm gonna be a… veterinarian…"

"Aren't veterinarians medics too…?"

"Stop it! Come ooon!"

Yang turned to look at her friends, wondering what the hell they were bickering about. She had heard the beginning of their conversation but had lost track of it a few minutes ago. Considering how tipsy they were, she probably wouldn't understand them even if she were paying attention.

"Girls, maybe we should stop and take a-" Yang cut herself short, stopping where she stood. A chill ran down her back, a visceral reaction of fear like she'd never felt before.

Her eyes turned back to what was ahead of her and immediately met with two red orbs coming out of the shadows. The rest of the creature slowly entered into the light, revealing its lupine form.

The Grimm stopped right in front of her, standing to its full height, and looked down at her. Yang stood frozen, her eyes wavering. Behind her, her friends were now in utter silence.

The monster swung a claw at her, striking her on the side of the head. Yang fell to her knees, her hair falling in front of her face, concealing her features. She braced her hands against the ground, then slowly looked up.

Her violet eyes turned red.

Yang jumped, slamming her knee against the Grimm's midsection. The strength of the blow sent the creature staggering backwards. Yang landed and closed the distance again, aiming a punch at its nose…

The Grimm's head caved in, and an instant later, the whole of it turned to smoke.

Yang stepped back, her shoulders rising and falling fast as she breathed raggedly. She turned to look at her friends, who had the most incredulous expressions on their faces.

"What?" Her eyes turned back to violet. "You two drank way too much. Or did someone spike your drinks?"

The two shared a ghastly look, then smiled and laughed nervously. Yang looked at the dissipating smoke, her brow furrowing as she wondered how a Grimm had gotten here, and why Ruby or Beacon weren't here to deal with it.

* * *

Glynda brought her motorcycle to a halt, staring at the line of Beacon agents holding the horde of Grimm back, not letting them exit the street they had arrived in. It was worse than she thought, a Surge like she had never seen before. Maybe she would have to make a desperate call for help from the mainland.

But not yet. Not while there was still hope. Glynda joined her agents and raised a hand, signaling for them to hold their fire. She inspected the horde, searching for her target…

There it was, the Beringel, marching through the sea of Grimm like their monstrous king. Its arms were raised above its head, a crimson figure limp on its hands. The lesser Grimm howled and snarled, as if honoring it.

The Beringel stopped, dropped Ruby on the ground, and beat its hands against its chest, then laughed hoarsely and prepared to punch down at her…

Glynda cursed under her breath, raising her sniper rifle and taking aim. The shot charged quickly, energy building up to full capacity, threatening to overflow. She only had one shot, and she had to make it count.

Just as the Beringel brought its fist down, a green light beamed across the street, hitting it directly on its face. The bone armor that protect its head shattered partly, revealing a red eye that seemed to waver like fire. It stumbled back, shaking its whole body in pain, then stopped and looked at Glynda.

Its roar echoed across the city block, making even the seasoned Commander flinch in fear. The Grimm came charging at the agents, stepping over Ruby, but Glynda did not let herself be cowered.

"Fire!" She yelled, and took another shot. Energy splashed on the Beringel's body, but the damage was negligible now that it was prepared for it. Even as its bony armor shattered and fell off, it kept coming.

"It's getting closer!" An agent yelled in panic. "Commander, what do we do?!"

"Don't let-"

The Grimm extended its arm to the side, plucking a Beowolf off its feet, and threw it at the humans. Glynda jumped to the ground, but the living projectile still made contact with the other agents, knocking them down.

The Beringel jumped, arching several meters through the air, then landed behind them, the concrete shattering from the impact. Glynda rose to her feet and hopped away, taking aim…

She didn't have the opportunity to shoot, as the Grimm closed the distance between them in a heartbeat and grabbed her in both hands. Glynda yelled furiously, seeing the ground getting farther and farther away from her, then went flying through the air helplessly.

Glynda Goodwitch did not have Aura, but she had never lamented that fact. She had trained herself to take any hit and keep getting back up, even if in all fairness, she shouldn't be able to. But now, as her body hit the concrete and her head rang in agony, the world splitting into multiples, she couldn't find the strength to rise again.

The Commander felt the ground tremble, the Beringel walking to her, no doubt to finish the job. But she did not despair. Instead, she looked in the other direction, to the girl in red lying unconscious on her back.

"Ruby…"

* * *

_"Mommy?"_

_"Yes, dear? Be patient, the cookies are almost ready."_

_"Mom…"_

_"What?"_

_"Why do you go away sometimes?"_

_"I told you, Ruby. It's my job. I'm a bodyguard."_

_"Yeah, but! Dad also has a job, but he's home every day."_

_"Don't let him know I said this, but Dad's job is much easier. Mine is… complicated. You see, I can't protect people from home, so I need to go to them… even when they don't want me to."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Well, sometimes people don't know they need help. Sometimes they have to be helped before they even know they're in trouble. Other times, people don't_ want _your help. But you have to help them anyways."_

_"Why?"_

_"Ruby… The world is a very painful place to live in. You don't see it now, and I hope you never do. But people are hurting. If you have the power to help them, to make their lives better, to protect them… That's what you gotta do, always."_

_"Like a superhero?"_

_"Yes. Like a superhero."_

_"You're_ my _superhero, Mom."_

_"Thank you, Little Rose. That… means a lot to me. Maybe one day you'll get to be my_ _superhero, huh?"_

_"Are the cookies ready?"_

_"They most certainly are. Go wash your hands, sweetheart."_

* * *

The Beringel raised its hands together, glaring at the blond woman below it. Glynda Goodwitch braced herself, staring unwaveringly at the deliverer of her death. She would not leave this world begging for mercy. The Grimm roared, bringing its arms down…

"No more."

Its blow was halted midway through. Rose petals hovered in the air between them. Glynda stared in startle for a moment, then smiled when she saw Ruby blocking the Grimm with her scythe.

"You're not taking anyone else."

Ruby jumped, spinning, and slammed the blunt side of her scythe against the side of the Grimm's face. The Beringel staggered to the side, but quickly regained its balance and turned towards the girl…

She was gone.

Ruby appeared again, standing on the creature's shoulders, and slammed the top of its head several times, making its skull ring painfully. She jumped backwards off of it and fell back to the ground, slashing along the Grimm's back in the process. The Grimm turned around and tried to grab her, but its hand closed around empty air.

The Beringel saw only flashes of red as it felt blows land all over its body, happening too fast for it to react in any way whatsoever. Petals swirled around it like a tornado, the wind picking up so much speed that it was started to lift the monster off its feet.

Glynda watched amazed as the Beringel hovered meters up in the air. The Grimm surrounding the fight roared and howled. The Beringel itself screamed in primal rage.

Suddenly, the petals stopped, and Ruby became visible again, hovering in front of her enemy. She swung Crescent Rose, lodging its blade on the Beringel's exposed eye, causing it to holler in pain. They fell fast, the creature taking the blunt of the impact as she stood on top of it.

Ruby angled her weapon, the barrel coming to rest against the Grimm's forehead. She pulled the trigger, and the Beringel turned to smoke.

A moment of silence passed. Ruby was still. Glynda sat on the ground, breathing with difficulty. The remaining Grimm did not move a muscle.

Ruby looked over her shoulder at the monsters… and smiled.

* * *

It took another half hour to clear out the street. Ruby's aura was depleted, meaning one mistake could cost her dearly, but she didn't make any. She was a killing machine; she was a slayer; she was a hero.

She was alive.

When the last puff of smoke dissipated in the sky, Ruby walked back to Glynda, who was sitting on the back of a Beacon van, having her arm examined by another agent. The Commander's uniform was bloody, and the left side of her face was a tad grazed, but aside from that, she didn't look to be in critical condition.

"Is it over?" Ruby asked, resting Crescent Rose on the ground.

Glynda nodded weakly. "It's over. Our teams have killed all the Grimm. No stragglers have been detected. No civilians casualties or unfortunate sightings," she smiled, laying a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Good job, agent Rose."

Ruby dropped her scythe and lunged forward, embracing the Commander. Glynda coughed a little, then patted the girl in the back. A fifteen-year-old, superpowered, sweet and naïve girl; Beacon's newest addition. Who would have thought?

But, then again… she was her mother's daughter.

* * *

Ruby turned on her bed and yawned. She looked at the clock on her nightstand, saw it was almost nine o'clock, and curled up a little, groaning. It was a Saturday, but she couldn't stay in bed until lunch. Not today.

She stood up and got dressed slowly, her eyes wandering to her scythe and uniform at the desk. Her lips parted slightly, revealing a smile. Agent Rose. It had been two weeks, yet she still got giddy thinking about it.

Once she was done, Ruby left her room and practically ran down the stairs, leaving a couple petals behind, which her father would no doubt chastise her about later.

"Hey, Dad!" She called out. "Is Yang gone yet?"

"She's in the garage!" He replied from the kitchen. "Want a toast?"

"Three toasts!"

Ruby raced to the garage just in time to see Yang getting on her motorcycle, equipped with a large backpack and holding her helmet in her hands. The redhead squealed, then jumped at her, wrapping her arms around her sister.

"Ruby!" Yang laughed. "I didn't think you were going to wake up so early."

"I couldn't let you go without a goodbye. What kind of little sister do you think I am?" Ruby stepped away, pouting.

"The overworked, crimefighting kind?" Yang raised an eyebrow. "Besides, we said goodbye last night. And I won't be gone for long."

"It's the whole summer!" Ruby threw her arms up, exasperated.

Yang shrugged. She turned to look at her helmet and, more precisely, her hands. Ruby frowned, thinking there was something weird in her eyes… Eh. She was probably imagining things.

"Anyway," Yang looked at her again, smiling. "Thanks, Ruby. Remember to check in, always. You might be an agent of Beacon, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna worry any less. I don't care if you're in another dimension; you find a way to let me know you're okay. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Ruby replied in reflex. Sometimes Yang sounded a lot like Commander Goodwitch.

Yang put on her helmet, blew her a kiss, then raced off the garage. Ruby watched her leave, waving, then went back inside.

She went to the kitchen and sat down. Her father looked back at her as he prepared their toasts, then turned and laid them on the table. Ruby looked at her plate and smiled.

"I said three toasts." She noted.

"Oh, did you?" Taiyang feigned surprise. "I thought I heard five. Too bad, now you're gonna have to eat them all."

"Yeah, what a bummer!" Ruby giggled, immediately stuffing her mouth with half of a toast.

Taiyang stared at her, taking in her silver eyes, her cheeks contorted from laughter, her face dirty with bread crumbs. The girl who could slay a horde of Grimm all by herself and come out smiling.

His daughter.

His superhero.


	9. Yes, we have a post-credits scene

The sky was cloudy that morning. Not a good sign when you are visiting a graveyard. If she didn't come here so often, Ruby would have turned back immediately and found something else to do.

No, she wouldn't let a little bit of grey skies stand in her way of talking to her mother. It was in order, after all. She had been meaning to since the night of the Surge, but passing school and joining Beacon and family stuff had made it annoyingly difficult.

But that was all over. Today was the day.

She started up the hill to Summer's grave, keeping her gaze on her feet to make sure she wouldn't trip on anything. When she got to the top, she looked up and found a bouquet of roses resting at the tombstone's base.

Ruby looked around and saw a man standing to her right. His hair was silver, his eyes hidden behind shaded spectacles. His suit was somewhere between casual and formal. Practical, Ruby thought. Most strange, though, was the mug he carried on his left hand.

He turned his head slightly to look at Ruby and brought the mug to his lips, taking a sip of what she assumed to be coffee. She tensed, only to relax after a brief moment. There was something about his eyes that made her feel at ease, something not unlike her own father's gaze.

"Miss Rose." He greeted quietly, turning back to the grave.

Ruby gulped silently, following his gaze. She dragged a foot through the grass, searching for something to say. Anything. "Did… you leave the flowers?"

"Yes. Your mother was quite the woman. I've never again met anyone quite as unique as her," he grinned. "So far."

"Wait," Ruby frowned. "Did you know her? Who _are_ you?"

The man took another ship of his coffee, then turned completely to face her. He retrieved something from his suit, a enveloped file, and handed it to Ruby.

"My name is Ozpin. I'm the Director of Beacon," he said. "Your feats during the latest Surge in your hometown and the way Commander Goodwitch speaks of you… Let's say you've garnered my interest, Miss Rose," he smiled. "Open the envelope. Take a look."

Ruby eyed him dubiously, but did as he asked anyway. She shifted through the papers, seeing pictures, forms, names. Belladonna. Nikos. Schnee? What the-

"I'm here to talk to you about the Hunt Initiative."

* * *

**RUBY ROSE WILL RETURN**


End file.
